The Fourth of July

Tom went to the reservation just down the road from his work. He had me fill up the gas tank on the Jeep and took that car to work, so he could fill up with more fireworks than his car could hold. I told him $500 budget. He responded with "It is none of your business". It is our classic discussion as he doubles the fireworks budget I give him every year. I humor him , he humors me, and we get a grand display. This routine stems from when we moved to this state and discovered everything goes on the Fourth for fireworks. There are no restrictions. Our old state was so restrictive that nothing was allowed to leave the ground, limiting us to smoke bombs and fountains.

When Tom first discovered real fireworks he was ecstatic. He and another friend would go hog wild each year and buy cases of mortars to launch. The party would be at their house. His friend screwed six launch tubes onto a plywood board  one year so they could launch multiple mortars, tying the fuse wicks together. Tom and he reveled in the explosions. Occasionally a mortar would stick in the tube and everyone would yell duck, and dive for cover as the mortar exploded inside the tube destroying the cardboard launch tube.

In the last few years, Tom has discovered cakes, the big boxes of multiple explosions already built into the fireworks box. He can light the fuse and have plenty of time to step back and admire the sparkling fireworks as they go off over and over again with just one fuse lit. This is what he came home with this year, a box the size of a twin mattress filled with cakes of fireworks. The stand had thrown in two boxes of fountains and smoke bombs for free  as a thank you for spending so much money.

I was walking back to my car having seen the fair early in the day and passed a friend who asked me if it was true that Tom had spent $1000 on fireworks. I said he doesn't tell me these things but I wouldn't be surprised. I invited her over to the house to see the display later that night.

Tom had been "testing" different locations around the house to see what would be the best sight to locate the show. We couldn't launch them in the back yard down below the house, as they would potentially explode right in our faces on the deck. He had let off a few mortars in the front yard, as we watched, the night before. We found the trees in the front yard blocked our view from different positions. It took several experimental shots and angle discussions to find what would work. The wind kept blowing the display over the trees to where we couldn't see all of the fireworks in the sky.

Before dinner, on the fourth, to entertain himself, Tom set off a few fountains on the deck while he waited for the cooking BBQ, to keep himself busy. We ended up deciding to just launch everything from the deck. The wind accommodated the display. Mostly our friends came over to watch Tom as he is great entertainment when in full form, so happy to be lighting pretty explosives.

Earlier in the week, we could hear what Tom thought must be M80s, which are partial sticks of dynamite going off in the neighborhood. he was looking forward to seeing what the neighbors did on the fourth.

 I have a friend that hates the fourth with all the explosions. She hates how it disturbs the dogs and cats. She hates that people light off loud explosives late into the night not considering other people might be trying to sleep. She is happy when the fourth is over and done. She checks in with me to make sure we survived without injury after the fourth is over. To her the fourth is full of stress.

Tom told our guests that the Fourth is right up there with Christmas, Thanksgiving, and his Birthday  as his favorite days of the year. He was so happy. He even had a smile on his face after he lost  a round of golf he played early in the day. He said he should have busted 80, this is for 18 holes, compared to my shooting 80 for nine holes. He said he lost the round, with a big grin on his face, so happy that it was the Fourth of July, and he was about to launch $1000 worth of fireworks off our deck to  entertain friends and family and himself. 

We served our usual BBQ with home made potato salad, corn on the cob, and watermelon. Our friends brought the fruit pies for dessert. Tom kept the fireworks going with fountains and the occasional mortar until it was dark enough for the cakes. It was lovely. Our booms blended in with everyone one else lighting off fireworks in the area. The trees in our yard blocked most of the displays close by, but we could see fireworks around town from our deck while we watched our own.

. When all the big fireworks were done, it was time for the guests to get home and for me to put the food away and clean up. We still have half a box of the fountains left over,  which we will save for Tom's Birthday in August. The windows in our bedroom were open at bedtime. I wanted to shut them as explosions were still going off all over town. Tom wanted to fall asleep to the noise. As soon as he started snoring I shut the windows so I could sleep.

In the morning, I had the boys pick up all the big empty cakes off the deck and throw them in the garbage. We filled all three of our giant garbage cans with cardboard for recycling, and the rest in the regular garbage. Tomorrow is garbage day. Next big event for us is Tom's birthday.