As I write this on June 22, 2021, I realize it isn’t long till the 4th of July. Lots of thoughts run through my mind as I consider Independence Day. Like a child who has learned there is no Santa Claus, I’m saddened to learn that our Nation’s founders were mortal men and our Constitution was not handed down on Mount Sinai. But let’s not go there. Let’s talk about fireworks.
We lived in the country when I was a child. That was in the late 30s, during the Great Depression. (You don’t have to do the math. I’ll be 89 on September 14th.) There may have been fireworks displays in town, but I didn’t know about them. The first fireworks I remember seeing was when we lived on the dairy farm in Illinois. I may have been seven or eight.
Daddy bought Roman candles, skyrockets, sparklers and firecrackers. Maybe more. We sat on a hillside in the pasture and Daddy ‘shot them off’. What a fabulous display! Daddy was as excited as my little brother and me. He enjoyed fireworks for as long as he got to see them. Mother was patient and loving with all of us.
I still love fireworks! Not firecrackers or sparklers in the hands of children. They scare me. I’m afraid they’ll set themselves or others on fire. But big bursts of color and patterns in the sky thrill me. Especially if set to music. The 1812 Overture is my favorite, after all, the “Star Spangled Banner” was written on September 14, 1814, during the War of 1812. PBS fireworks over the Nation’s Capital stir my patriotism. Macy’s display over New York City is impressive.
For years, Ivar Hagland’s Fireworks over Seattle’s Elliott Bay, thrilled our family. Especially our small grandsons. My office was on the 31st floor of a downtown building. It had (at that time) an unobstructed view of the harbor. Windowsills in ‘Mimi’s Office’ were wide enough to hold small boys. They were enchanted! The older kept asking, ‘Is it the Grand Finale?’ The younger loved fireworks more than anyone I’ve ever known. Maybe he does still.
A few years later, after we had moved to Fort Smith, he and his brother met us at Walt Disney World in Orlando. They enjoyed themselves in the big Theme Park. Later, as we drove up I-95, we saw the launch of the Space Shuttle Endeavor and other interesting sights, including Fort Sumter. But this one was most interested in alligators and fireworks stands. I’m sure he could see a firework sign over a hill and around a curve. He always told us about it. To no avail! We drove up the coast to Kitty Hawk, then out I-40 to Fort Smith. No fireworks sign went unnoticed. Frank was pretty good at seeing Cracker Barrel signs.
Mother and Daddy were still in reasonably good health and living on their farm when Frank and I and our children joined my brother and his family one 4th of July for a family picnic and fireworks. There was wonderful food, homegrown watermelon and a bucketful of fireworks. The food was enjoyed under the trees in the front yard.
Men and kids took the fireworks down to where the little creek ran into the big creek. There was a little sandy beach. The perfect spot for ‘shooting off’. Strings of firecrackers were separated and put in the bucket. Rockets and all sorts of other fireworks were also in the bucket. My brother says Daddy did it on purpose, but I assumed it was by accident, but a match went into the bucket and the initial shot was the Grand Finale!
Over the years, Frank and I watched fireworks at Butchart Gardens in Victoria, BC, at Auditorium Shores in Austin, at Austin Country Club, over Lake Marble Falls and in towns and neighborhoods where we lived. Mike and Peggy saw them in Hong Kong for Chinese New Year. I hope to see them on TV for the Olympics in Japan. Fireworks bring out the child in me! I’ll wait for the Grand Finale.
Tess Todd
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