jakorte's blog

Good evening!

It’s 10:00 pm on the 1st of July. Already the fireworks are starting to show up in the Adrian air. I look forward to the 4th of July for many reasons. It was always a family holiday. Sometimes we were camping, other times we were at home with sparklers and friends. Fireworks are a complicated art. The medium (firecrackers) have to be just right. As does the wind, the humidity, cloud height, and bird flight patterns.

Some of the best fireworks I’ve ever seen were from the roof of Lenox Hill Hospital in my New York City neighborhood. As we stood gazing toward South Street Seaport, my mother narrated each burst with delightful information. “Blue is the hardest color to sustain in fireworks. Chrysanthemum formations are different from Cascades.��? But what really sparked my mom was that she had learned that these fireworks were going to hold something special that had never been done before. Sure enough, there it was right before the finale: A double, red, intertwined, sustained heart lit the night sky above the river in an awesome glow. I think this was also the year they managed a blue five point star within a white circle.

One of the silliest, and most fun, fireworks events I’ve enjoyed occurred at the Wilson County Fairgrounds in Tennessee. My friend humorously referred to this location as the “scene of the shrapnel fall-out.��? Things were going along fine until the clouds came down low, and the projected winds reversed themselves. Ooos and aaahh quickly turned to Ohs! and Ows! as we were unexpectedly pelted with burnt ashes and bits of firework remnants. I now know first-hand what a deployed fireworks smells, looks and feels like as it floats, or in this case, plummets to the ground, into your hair, onto your vehicle, or just completely dusts your clothes with ashes.

Hope your Fourth of July is thoroughly enjoyed as you pursue your own independent happiness-es.

jak