Ah---fireworks season is upon us once again! Where all men, and some women too (Emily L. !) , suddenly turn into children......children playing with matches. Here's a little "fiery" poem to commemorate the occasion:
***FLAMES***
Smokey the Bear heads
into the autumn woods
with a red can of gasoline
and a box of wooden matches.
His ranger's hat is cocked
at a disturbing angle.
His brown fur gleams
under the high sun
as his paws, the size
of catcher's mitts,
crackle into the distance.
He is sick of dispensing
warnings to the careless,
the half-wit camper,
the dumbbell hiker.
He is going to show them
how a professional does it.
~Billy Collins
********
When I was younger, my brother and I had a big package of those spinning fireworks called "flowers" (they twirl around and change from red to green to gold in a few seconds). Being the genius children we were-- we figured out that we could light them in our hands, and have a few seconds before the fuse burned down in which to throw them, then watch with glee as they spun around in the air. Pretty cool backyard entertainment, right?! Until I threw one of them, and then everything. switched. into. slow. motion as I saw it take a sudden hook in the air and head right through my Mom's open bedroom window...... It burned a big hole in her pillow and comforter, and left an ugly black spot on her wooden headboard. To this day, I can still close my eyes and see that possessed firework changing direction mid-flight and feel that gripping dread of "oh crap! I think I just lit my mother's bed on fire!!!". Yeeeeeeah, that was pretty much the end of my adventures with fireworks....they stayed on the ground from that year on!
How 'bout ya'al----- any fireworks horror stories?
my favorite 4th of July photo of all! Doesn't Liam look thrilled?! : )*****GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!*****
And wishing you all a fire-department free Independence Day!
22 comments:
I have issues with all things fire related. I don't even know how to operate our grill. Or the gas starter fireplace logs. So, ummm...I dont' think I have any 4th of July worries. Well...except for whatever the neighbors might do. Gonna keep my windows closed. Tight.
Well lets see.... yes there are a few stories I have, seeing as how I had 3 brothers growing up. I'll just share two of the favorites...
When I was younger I distinctly remember playing with sparklers (seemingly harmless right?) well one of "sparkles" happened to catch my next younger brother's hair on fire. He was crying and we didn't have any water to put it out so we had to ask these drunk people next to our car for some ice out of their cooloer. He turned out okay...
The other story actually happened last year. The brothers get older- and dumber. This one happened at my parents house. All the boys, their girlfriends, and guy friends were in my parents front yard lighting fireworks and some of them just happened to shoot into the neighbors (I know I'm going to slaughter the spelling of this) arbrovita bushes -- told ya. Well it just so happens that the bushes hold this great waxy oil in them that makes for a wonderful fire starter. Long sotry short, after three fire trucks, a whole fence full of bushes on fire and the neighbors having to evacuate their house in underwear....my brothers won't be lighting any fireworks near home anytime soon.
Cross our fingers... nothing bad will happen this year. :)
Oh goodness Kati's story was hilarious. (As was your's.) My horror story was when I was 6. My neighbor boys were messing around with black cat firecrackers. They would light them while holding them and then toss them right before they exploded. I was standing in the horse corral (where I thought I was safe), wearing my most favorite shirt. Wouldn't you know it, they tossed one right at me. It went down my shirt and exploded, ripping my shirt to shreds and leaving a nice burn on my tummy. (I still love fireworks though.)
Nope, again, pretty boring...my dad was a firefighter and we were always just supposed to sit back and watch while he lit it all up! I was even a little scared of sparklers until about the age of 12! I know, I need to break loose! I love hearing your family stories...for one...glad you are still alive, and two that your mom was some how able to endure through it all :) My man has that little bit of pyro in him and is counting down the days! I always remind him that his hands are our lively-hood, so please pull them back REALLY fast and get the heck out of there! "Out here in the country" we get together with some of are neighbors down the road a piece and light up the sky! That was my country slur and I purposefully used "are" instead of "our"! Will be a ton-o-fun! Can't wait! Hope your's is most enjoyable! and... GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!!
Poor little Liam.
I think we are going to do sparklers in our backyard even though they are illegal. ;P
Nothing as good as what I have just read, except our crazy Gourmet cook neighbor who brought out his blow torch for making creme brule and used it to light all the fusses for the grand finale. It was too funny and really made those lighting sticks look like kids play.
Happy 4th of July!
Oh my, what a story. I'm having a hard time thinking of a story, what with hearing Tom Jones sing "Burning Down the House."
The 4th of July is a disaster waiting to happen. But I do love my country and enjoy watching the fireworks.
Never had too bad of an experience with them. But I have lit a fire or two in my home as a child with moderate damage.
Teri,
I bet you never thought the Talking Heads version could be improved upon, right :)?!?!
He's singing it with the Cardigans. Such a natural duet....
I have always been afraid to light or go near fireworks lit by anyone other than someone trained to do it for fear of catching my hair on fire. Or going through my parents open window and burning down the house! Your story is hilarious...I love the way you wrote it! Have a great fourth...Oh I'll probably "see" you before then, though ;)
I love fireworks, but I am a TOTAL chicken when it comes to being anywhere close to them. I begin to channel my mother, which isn't good. I get nervous, act odd, and say things like "are you sure you're suppose to light that". But, we have them none the less.
Lisa Q
lifewiththequeens.blogspot.com
being the appointed safety mom I can honestly say....I HATE FIREWORKS!!!
In fact my husband and son are outside right now lighting them. I just know Lucas will be running in here any moment screaming about blowing his thumb off or something.
I also HATE all the smoke they create. I can only image whats in all that smoke.......lead, toxic crap...
HATE THEM
I don't have any good firework stories!! My dad is a Safety and Health consultant, so we never got to do anything dangerous. Dang.
My girls make that same face as Liam. We have to get those extra long sparklers and they still drop them when they burn about halfway down.
That is the funniest story. That is an awesome back yard, and I love the picture of your little boy.
When me and the hubby were very first married we lived in this trailor court (yea, we were trailor trash) anyways, the landlord would build his own firework every year. It was so funny the whole town would come out to see it (In Ephraim Utah that pretty exciting) It was crazy, and so illegal I'm sure. I bet he spent a couple hundred dollars on that thing. Everyone had to stand way back, because you never knew what it would do. I still remember the big burn marks in the street.
My parents can sort of laugh about the situations now-- not so much about the melting their next door neighbors siding off their house- but they're getting there, maybe in a couple more years. Things just happen sometimes...I'm glad you got a good laugh about it. I loved Elena's story, it made me laugh out loud to picture her shirt being 'blown up', although I'm sure it was somewhat traumatic.
Happy 4th!!
We seem to always live on the outskirts of town with lots of brush and trees just waiting to go up in flames. My 4th of July festivities usually involve standing outside with a hose ready to go and yelling at the neighborhood pyros that my property is not their playground for fire.
Were you at RC Willey today? I am visiting family and I swear I saw you. . .
Oh, and my youngest is still terrified of fireworks and she is approaching five.
and I have to tell everyone, that yes--indeed I was at the RC Willey at the same time as Jenni. Two blogging ships crossing in the night or something like that! Crazy small world!
Spinning flowers -- hmmmm, I was about 13 & sitting on the tailgate of a Bronco - far away from the fireworks & one of those spinning flowers, flew into my jacket & spun on my neck. I can see that night all in slow motion too. Worst night of my life, but luckily no scarring. Gee, I'm not a big firework fan AT ALL! Be safe.
I won the contest in sixth grade outdoor camp to build a fire the fastest and biggest. I love fire!!! My parents had a hard time keeping me out of camp fires with my sticks and such, poor parents.
Now that I'm fully grown, fireworks are right up my alley, and everyone's stories just inspire me to make a great show or something for my family. Gosh dang if I don't always burn my fingers at least a little though. Yet, onward I go...more fireworks please.
This year, I perfected the technique of throwing the blooming flowers in the air, and holding them JUST long enough. I thought your story was hilarious. Oh no! I will stay away from my mother's open window!
Well, this isn;t something I did since fireworks were illegal where I lived but......
people down the street always had fireworks from Mexico -- the fancy kind that you shoot up in the sky. Well, one 4th, my byfriend was over and we were watching and I went into the bathroom. A minute later I heard my boyfriend going out the back door, which i thought was weird. I followed him and asked what he was doing and he said one of the fireworks went horizontal instead of vertical in the sky and he was concerned it landed behind one of the houses in the thick vegetation along the creek that ran behind us. Not seeing anything we went back out front. A little while later we heard sirens blaring and going into the neighborhood across the creek. We walked over and discovered that the errant firework had made it across the creek and onto the roof of an old lady's garage where it burned through.
The sad thing was that when we tried to tell the authorities where it came from (in case she wanted to press charges) they didn;t seem to care.
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