I Was Thinking... Gone in A Flash

The 4th of July is the biggest celebrated holiday of the summer. It is a time for boating, camping, picnics, parades and of course fireworks. While fireworks are often used for other community celebrations, it is the 4th where they become the dominant feature.
For kids, the advent of nightfall usually signals an end to play and time for bed. But that is not true on the 4th of July. Darkness is looked forward to because it beckons the start of firework displays. Families gather around lakes, in parks, or ball fields in anticipation of the annual show of sound and light.
To many small children and dogs, it can be a frightening experience. I remember watching one such display in our closed car with our youngest daughter who was very sensitive to loud sounds. But to most, fireworks are the most impressive when you can feel the sound as well as viewing the bursts of light.
What is the draw for something that is here and gone in such a short time? Why do people carefully plan out their viewing location and stake out their site well in advance of darkness? It definitely is a family thing.
Families situate chairs or blankets on the ground, sit on their cars or in the bed of a pickup. If you are really lucky, you observe them from a boat or pontoon. But wherever the location, it is one of the rare times the whole family looks forward to the same event.
As a kid growing up, the only legal item we had were sparklers. These coated pieces of wire gave off a shower of sparks that were considered safe enough for children to handle. What most parents didn’t know is that these “toys” burned at 2000 degrees. It was like giving your child a welding rod to play with.
Once in a while if we were in a different state, and mom wasn’t around, dad would pay for a couple of packs of firecrackers with the promise that I would be careful with them. For young boys, lighting the fuse and then waiting for the “pop” was exciting even if the enjoyment lasted only for a second.
But I digress, while firecrackers are still part of some people’s personal celebration, it is the big boomers, with spectacular light shows that draw people to July 4th fireworks displays every year. There is something special about thousands of people gathering to have their senses stimulated by sight and sound. It begins with the whish sound at the rocket leaves the canister and heads high into the sky. Occasionally you can see a faint light trail and then at its apex it explodes with sound and fury. There is anticipation between the time of the launch and the explosion.
Today fireworks come in all kinds of shapes and colors. Some are the huge circular ones like a gigantic flower that fill the whole sky. They may start out blue but then morph into gold before disappearing. Others are red and green or purple and gold. Another display may seem to burn out only to have the outer edges explode again in red stars. Some explode and die quickly while others burst apart, and then gold streamers seem to hang like the branches of a weeping willow as they drift toward the ground and dissipate.
Another type ignites and go screeching off in all different directions like possessed goldfish. Others light up the ebony sky like a geyser emitting brilliant showers of light upward. Some whirl around and sizzle as they disappear into the night. Some displays shoot numerous ones in quick succession to fill the night sky.
But the most impressive thing of the evening is the grand finale where rockets fill the air for minutes and different displays burst, shimmer, glimmer, sparkle, and explode before there is a massive boom and it all ends. People cheer, car horns blare and then people pack up and head home with only memories of the sounds and sights that were here and gone in a flash. But more than likely, they will be back next year to watch it all over again.
Did You Ever Wonder? — If things get out of whack, how do you ever get it back in whack?