(no subject)
Jul. 3rd, 2002 08:12 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
So the barrage starts last night at 12:01, mainly wistling rockets, and later these new things they have that sound like cats being launched (unsuccessfully) into space - "MEEEEEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWW--POP!POP!POP!" But it's no worse than the vibrating rap music cars we normally get in the wee hours, so I fall asleep eventually.
Until.
"Ann?" Oh Christ, it's 3:00 a.m. "Come look at something."
"What?"
"I heard something."
All righty. I pad after her into the backyard. She's got her little Coleman lantern, which I hope is doing a good job of illuminating my face, since she insists of pointing the damn thing at me and blinding me. "What did you hear?"
"I thought it was rain, but it's not raining. Then it sounded like somebody was cutting the scr--" "MEEEEEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWW--POP!POP!POP!"
Like that you mean?
"There! Did you hear that?"
"It's fireworks."
"Are you sure?"
"They went on sale at midnight. They've been going off all night."
"Well, I hadn't heard any!"
I refrain from punching her in the face. That lantern looks kind of heavy. Instead, in my best John Hillerman, "I'm going to bed."
Five minutes later: "MEEEEEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWW--POP!POP!POP!" Sound of footsteps. There's a creak and a presence in the doorway.
I don't even open my eyes. "It's. Fireworks."
"Are you sure?"
"It's. Fireworks."
"...Okay."
"MEEEEEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWW--POP!POP!POP!"
Until.
"Ann?" Oh Christ, it's 3:00 a.m. "Come look at something."
"What?"
"I heard something."
All righty. I pad after her into the backyard. She's got her little Coleman lantern, which I hope is doing a good job of illuminating my face, since she insists of pointing the damn thing at me and blinding me. "What did you hear?"
"I thought it was rain, but it's not raining. Then it sounded like somebody was cutting the scr--" "MEEEEEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWW--POP!POP!POP!"
Like that you mean?
"There! Did you hear that?"
"It's fireworks."
"Are you sure?"
"They went on sale at midnight. They've been going off all night."
"Well, I hadn't heard any!"
I refrain from punching her in the face. That lantern looks kind of heavy. Instead, in my best John Hillerman, "I'm going to bed."
Five minutes later: "MEEEEEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWW--POP!POP!POP!" Sound of footsteps. There's a creak and a presence in the doorway.
I don't even open my eyes. "It's. Fireworks."
"Are you sure?"
"It's. Fireworks."
"...Okay."
"MEEEEEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWW--POP!POP!POP!"
(no subject)
Date: 2002-07-03 06:36 am (UTC)Poor Ann...
Do people do that al the time in America? Fireworks, I mean.
(no subject)
Date: 2002-07-03 06:55 am (UTC)(no subject)
So, what you do is you buy a shitload of explosives and start setting them off preferably the weekend before the Fourth, so that you have as much time as possible to annoy your neighbors!
(no subject)
Date: 2002-07-03 07:18 am (UTC)My personal favorite was the subtler Stinky Yellow Smoke Bomb. Light a few, put them in the milk box, and wait for someone else to open it.
(no subject)
Date: 2002-07-03 07:56 am (UTC)I remember in later years going to my aunt's to light off *real* fireworks.
(no subject)
I used to just hide a lot and pretend I didn't know anyone and hope he didn't actually go off, and laugh when he called the cops because some kids were playing 'basketball' in the park. The actual sport they were playing was volleyball, and I'm pretty sure either would have been legal in all 50 states, but basketball is notoriously difficult on grass.
I think the "Safe for kiddies" point to sparklers is that they don't explode and take off the kiddies' hands, and they don't move of their own volition so that you can't be sure where they'll go next. It's amazing how fast one's parents can move when a rocket-type firework starts to tip over just as it goes off and nearly takes off their heads.
(no subject)
Date: 2002-07-03 08:55 am (UTC)--Gail
(no subject)
do you remember when people sort of let off the fireworks mostly on July 4th? i'm beginning to think i imagined it.
(no subject)
Date: 2002-07-03 06:56 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2002-07-03 08:04 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2002-07-03 09:02 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2002-07-03 09:44 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2002-07-03 11:22 am (UTC)Husband and I lived in a crappy neighborhood in our apartment-before-the-house, and we were amazed on New Year's in Y2K to find that our neighbors were even better armed than us hicks. Of course, the shooting of the 25-round-clip (which is, may I add, illegal, and not just inside the city where ALL handguns are illegal, let alone the high-round clips...) and all its similar bits did explain the City Planner (or whoever the mayoral assistant was) going on the news and making what I thought was the most delightful public statment I heard regarding Y2K: "And, at midnight on New Year's, gravity will continue to operate, so we request that you refrain from that kind of celebration."
As a rural hick in my upbringing, we shot off fireworks, but only "out"--meaning far away from other ...drat...what are "Einwohner" auf Englisch?...people-what-lived-near. Fortunately, my nearest neighbors were over 1/10 mile away (you can see, when the trees are bare, and if you count bits of roofs, approximately 6 houses from my mom's house...if you looks really, really hard out every window), so we were "out". My grandfather's house had even fewer folks nearby.
I had not the foggiest notion that people would actually set off fireworks near populated areas.....well, at least not anything beyond the snakes, little snap-crackers, and sparklers. Roman candles? Bottle rockets? Near where someone lives? Weird. And now folks have been doing that in my neighborhoods in these densely populated areas. Wow.
(no subject)
Date: 2002-07-03 09:14 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2002-07-03 10:42 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2002-07-03 11:20 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2002-07-03 11:30 am (UTC)