Do you go?
We used to.
Our 4th of July in 1980 was spent in Ouray, Colorado. We swam, hung out and then sat on a blanket on the hood of the car and watched the fireworks being launched over the canyon. It really is spectacular to see them that way.
We talked about a lot of things that day, and by the end of the evening, we were talking about what things would be like 'when we are married'. There was no big romantic proposal. It was just a natural thing.
I'd still marry him today, so I guess it worked out.
We went to many different fireworks displays over the years. Our first one after marriage was Delta, Colorado. It was memorable because I got off work early so we could go. It felt like skipping school.
We caught the fireworks at Disneyland once or twice, too. We lived about an hour away for quite awhile and my aunt lived just blocks away. If we happened to be visiting her, we could see them at 10 every night.
Fort Vancouver, billed as the largest display West of the Mississippi, has an amazing show. But it's crazy crowded. Thousands and thousands and thousands of people, all squished into an area too small. Concert at night, vendors of all kinds of crap during the day and horrendous traffic. It's just not worth the trouble.
When the kids were little, we scraped a little money together over the space of several months so we'd have enough to go buy fireworks for them. We joked that we could have just burned a hundred dollar bill in the street, but it wouldn't have been as much fun.
They seemed to enjoy it, but eventually outgrew it. We stopped when they were about 16 and 10.
We occasionally took them to see a big public display, but the last one we went to was so crowded and so dangerous that we just stopped going. There were signs telling you not to bring your personal fireworks, but that didn't stop people. There were small children lighting their own and running through the crowd, there were fireworks going off above the little lawn where we sat and no one seemed to be watching their kids at all.
It's a lot like other things we no longer do (movie theaters!! Campgrounds!) because of crowds and large doses of stupid/shitty manners... easier just to avoid it than have to be stressed out/worried/pissed off the whole time we're there.
I don't always want to go back in time, but I really enjoyed the fireworks when I was a kid/young adult. Also, my feet didn't hurt. :-D
So do you do fireworks?
Most memorable was with my then young kids. We were on a Washington State Ferry at 10 pm in the middle of Puget Sound. There were fireworks in every direction.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds very memorable. I love things like that... stuff to look back on.
DeleteEvery year about 10 I think about what it would be like to be flying into an airport in a major city, because in our major city we have fireworks displays in every direction. There are a lot of people who take their boats out on the river to watch, too, but of course drunk boating is a thing now... and it's crowded.
We used to go the airforce base and watch as kids, but as an adult I have no interest in standing in a huge crowd of people. What I wish is that people in my neighborhood would be more considerate of everyone's dogs. Poor things, ours just can't figure out where to go to get away from the noise. We'll give her some medication, but it doesn't help much. :-(
ReplyDeleteI have a friend who brings her dog in and they put on a loud movie with a bunch of explosions and noise. Her dog doesn't notice what's going on outside that way.
DeleteMaggie used to freak out, too. Until she went mostly deaf in her later years. I actually hate fireworks these days, because people are so inconsiderate. I don't understand why they have to still be setting them off at 3 AM and I don't understand why they're going off for a week before and a week past the holiday.
Want to come sit in the curmudgeon corner with me?
We Do do fireworks, but in a rather different way. We take chairs and a cooler full of iced tea and fun snacks and go to the nearby high school track. We set up and relax, usually just the four or five of us, and watch several overhead displays. It's close, private, and perfect.
ReplyDeleteAnd another family tradition for you all to share. :)
DeleteWe can see a LOT of fireworks from our house. Vancouver is just across the river, quite a bit happening there. The two of us go outside for a bit and look, but then we come back in and sit in the curmudgeon corner together. There may be groping involved.