4th of July

Since I did an American themed post late last month, I won't today even if I should. But, I will reflect on the 4th of July from birth to now. And mostly about fireworks since I am stiill in explosive Indiana and can hear the booms.°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°° As a child, I rarely saw the fireworks. I am not quite sure why, except no...maybe I do know. See, my parents have always gone to bed early. If my parents ever actually went out to eat, they'd be there with the elderly at 4pm for their early bird special at Country Kitchen Cafe (ode to South Park). My parents go to bed no later than 9pm. As a teen, I would often go to bed by 10pm, super early for a teen, because there is only so much you can do stuck in your room, tv or music on super quiet, phone unplugged, no computer, no access to the bathroom or fridge or anything. But anyways, my parents would not go out cause it was too late to drive 15 min to see the fireworks. Add in their non social streak and a fear of crowds and....no fireworks. But I do recall a few times, offroading near the dump and watching the fireworks from afar, through the dense whitethorn brush at fireworks smaller than a penny. But for a kid who knew no better, awesome! We also did not do another quintessential 4th of July thing, bbq. Nope, no bbq as a kid on the 4th. I know, I think such cruelty should be illegal too. Heck I am currently in a hotel and we are commandeering their grill tonight.°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

But sometimes, awesomeness happens. When I was 17 and stayed the summer in Big Bear (best. Summer. Ever. And my cheesy coming of age movie kind of summer) we had a great 4 th. Well, it was almost ruined cause my boyfriend was nearly arrested for having fireworks, all of which are illegal. That is when things clicked, omg I am dating a pyromaniac. But he was super cute and my first kiss so... yeah. Anyways, Big Bear does their fireworks over the lake for obvious super flammable mountain reasons. But you can be on a boat during the show. Like right there. So we were as close as you can get, where you can see and smell them, where your heart stops beating with the boom. They would fill the sky over your head and reflect all sparkly in the water underneath your toe. Awesome. And then we completed the night with flaming arrows. Surprisingly, not the pyro's idea but mine. I have come to learn as an adult I, as a child, had A LOT of bad ideas but was too chicken to do them, but voiced them and had daring friends. So I gathered the cups ,gasoline, and marshmallows but had boyfriend and cousin soak them and hide them. We raided my mom's trunk for her bow and arrow (what, your mom doesn't have a bow and arrows in her trunk?) And voila, we put the gassy marshmallows on the arrow, lit it, pulled the arrow back and flung them into the water.

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°So I as an adult lived next to a high school which had its drawbacks like constant school bells and the alarm that would go off almost nightly because the cows and goats (4-H club) attracted coyotes which set off the alarm. At 2am. For an hour. Beginning band practice at 7 am. Etc. But what was awesome was they set the fireworks off there. So instead of paying $10 to sit in a parking lot, we got the show for free, could bbq, pee in a non porta potty, etc. And they went off, like Big Bear, right over our heads. And a C17 plane would fly by, dropping super low over the field and thus our house, shaking the windows, causing ringing in the ears, and just..a feeling of...America.°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

we saw fireworks last night, and sat with one of the hotel workers and his kids, refugees from Nigeria ,which gives you an appreciation for America. I want to give my son a fun 4th every year, to give him fond memories. My niece is stuck indoors, no bbq, and will probably miss the fireworks and it makes me sad. Something as simple as bbq and explosives on a hot summer night is a valuable experience.