Give Thanks...Community

 The fireworks began as we loaded up the cars. And because of that, we ended up pulling off the side of 1000 North to watch instead of going to the hospital parking lot where we usually go. Not a big deal...we were only a few hundred feet farther away from the evening explosions in the summer air.

Though, not the state's largest firework display, it did what it was intended to do...entertain, and hopefully fill those watching with a sense of wonder, of awe...

Of community.

Across the street from where we parked there's an open field. Last night it was full of cars and trucks (lots of trucks...). There's a good chance I didn't know a single soul in those vehicles, and they didn't know us. Didn't matter. Just like all of us found ourselves in this little down a few miles from the Idaho border, we all came--or have stayed--for different reasons, we all gathered around the fairgrounds, watching bombs bursting in air.

Thankfully, if we needed help last night, to borrow a phone or to jump-start a dead battery, I feel I could have approached any of those cars and/or trucks and asked for help and they would have obliged. Just as we would have helped anyone coming to us. At least, that's how I felt last night. That's how I feel living in this community.

Because negativity sells, it's easy to believe everyone is evil, everyone is just out for themselves, and at times each of us feels that way. But, I'm thankful that people are more often than not, better, good, giving, caring, loving.

I'm glad we don't have fireworks every night...it would become commonplace, ordinary. The infrequency makes it special, memorable, an event. I'm thankful for our community and for millions of other communities around the world. I'm thankful we got to see the show.

And the brilliant full moon only made it that much better.

Bombs Bursting In Air...

 We spent the day away from home, at the home of friends. It took a three-hour drive to get there, and just as long to get home. As I write this post, bombs--albeit small ones--are literally bursting in air all around us. 

Our neighbors spent good money on pyrotechnics this year.

Fireworks represent celebration the world over. When I lived in Denmark they fired off the noise makers to ring in the new year. But to me, fireworks will always represent America...strange, considering the USA didn't invent fireworks.

When I see them, hear them, even smell the sulfur, memories of days off, cookouts, and sitting in our front yard anxiously awaiting a fireworks display from Lagoon Amusement Park come to mind. I miss those Lagoon fireworks. Back then, their displays were not stellar, but Lagoon had the best show in town.

It's later...most of the arial bombs have exploded. Tomorrow night, there'll be more possibly, then in a couple of weeks, the cycle begins anew as our state--and not our country--celebrates its existence.

More bombs bursting...

More America.

I love it.

An Independence Day Without Fireworks...

Almost everything about this year has been different. And even when things haven't changed drastically, it feels like they have. Even going to the store or on a walk is different. I'm not smart enough to know if these changes will be permanent. The way I look at it, all bets are off the table.

This year, we made plans to visit friends over the Independence Day weekend. We hadn't seen these friends in a while and we needed to visit them ever since they moved a few years ago. We decided the holiday weekend was the time to go. To make things even sweeter, these particular friends love to set off fireworks. We thought we'd see if we could put on one of their famous neighborhood displays.

That turned out not to happen. Because of changed plans on our part, we were not able to stay long enough for it to get dark. We scrapped the fireworks idea.

Now, you may have looked at the title of this blog post and thought, "I don't know what he's talking about--we had so many fireworks in our neighborhood, maybe even more than last year."

And that's definitely true for some. I know many of you celebrated the 4th with fireworks. Where we live we're not allow to set off any because we live at the base of a mountain, and with two big fires in as many days leading up to July 4th, I can understand why the ban is in place. Because of that, we don't buy fireworks.

So, even though we heard bangs and explosions a few days before July 4th and a couple of days after, to me it felt different. Maybe it's because our city canceled their summer celebrations and normally, in about fifteen minutes we'd see a pretty good display of big fireworks. Who knows when we'll get to see those again?

I know some set off fireworks and others set off none. That would be us. I miss they way we all seemed to be happy to celebrate our country's birthday. I guess I miss the way we all felt when the fireworks were in the sky.

Our New Years Eve Tradition...A Few Days Late

In preparation of this year's New Years Eve, we planned, we took action, and we eagerly awaited the time when the big ball dropped, because in our family, that's when the destruction can begin. Last year we began a new tradition. This year we decided to keep it.

Too bad the weather didn't allow us to do anything on New Years Eve.

Of course, it wasn't just the cold, but we had wind. Our little town is famous for the wind storms we get here. Those two things kept us inside while we waited for the new year to arrive. This created a slight dilemma. When were we going to destroy the kid's gingerbread prison?

Turns out, we were able to attack it last night.

It got dark, we hauled out the gingerbread structure and the pyrotechnics and had the kids battle the edible building. Now, had we been able to find fireworks that actually blew up the gingerbread prison, that would have been a lot of fun, but no--we had to use these Victory Swords. They were fun and the kids enjoyed wielding them.

Next year, we'll be more prepared, and hopefully, we can do it on New Years Eve. Wish us luck!

An Explosive New Years Eve Celebration...

My wife found something interesting last week. She was doing a little internet surfing when she came across funny or unusual family Christmas and New Years traditions. I heard her take in a deep breath, and she said, "We've got to do this!"

After she told me what it was, I agreed.

You see, someone, somewhere out there has a tradition of taking the gingerbread house they build for Christmas and blowing it up on New Years Eve...literally. When she told me, I thought it was such a natural thing to do. I mean, you've got this building made of sweets and it's just sitting there. The longer it sits, the less you want to eat anything off it. Blowing it up solved the age-old question, "What are we going to do with the gingerbread house."

A couple of things. When the kids put the thing together, no one imagined we would be violently destroying it a week later. So, they built it well. And since we're not prone to blow things up, we didn't know the type of explosives we should use. I went shopping Saturday and found some things I thought would work.

Last night, just before and after midnight, we broke holes in the building's walls and placed our fireworks inside. The results were amazing. They lit up the culd-a-sac and when the smoke cleared, most of the building still stood (good construction...). 

We decided we'll need to adopt this into our holiday traditions. Next year, we're going to do some planning. The kids will know that will happen to the house so they may make changes in how they put it together. We'll also do some investigating into which fireworks work best. We had a lot of fun last night. Everyone says they hope the new year will be bigger and better. At least for us and gingerbread houses at New Years, we've got a year to see if this is true.

Today Was Brought To You By The Letter F...

I had kind of a "F" day. I need to be careful howI write that. Looking back, there were a lot of things associated with words beginning with F.

First of all, came the F-16 fighters that flew by our house in route to fly over parades and other festivities. I try and watch them each year. When they flew back, they were closer, but I didn't have my phone out.

We tried fixing a sprinkler head, but were unsuccessful. We may have to call in a professional sprinkler fixer.

And why not have Independence Day on a permanent loop like they do with Elf, or A Christmas Story at Christmas? I mean, seriously guys! So I found it even more weird when one channel looped Elf all day. Whoever is behind that scheduling decision understands me.

Tonight we had the grandparents over for a food feast. Bratwurst kababs and chipotle chicken cooked with real fire, or from once fired briquettes. And the fruit-topped dessert completed a wonderful meal.

Yes, F-16s, fixing sprinklers, films, family fire-cooked food and fun. But another word that comes to mind as we celebrated this year's Independence Day was freedom. That's a great, great word. Happy 4th everyone!