Friday, July 2, 2010

Firecrackers & works

Two things:

One: back when I was in the Air Force, there was a night filled with soju and silliness. Or maybe it was Coors Light and craziness. There may have actually been two different nights here… I’m not so sure anymore.

Anyway, one night in New Mexico we had a little house party. At present, there are a few pictures of me walking, laughing, and I happen to have one of those Coors Light cardboard cooler boxes in my arm. The fact that there is a Coors Light box doesn’t actually help determine whether or not this night was filled with soju or, in fact, Coors Light.

There is also a video of the evening. It’s mostly dark, has few words, but there’s plenty of snickering going on. Unfortunately for me, I was the one IN the video – not on the other side snickering along with the others.

The video just to happens to be of a few people throwing firecrackers and a couple other slightly-larger fireworks at me while I sit on a patio swing, slumped over the Coors Light box.

Now, had I been of proper state of mind and mental capacity, I probably would have jumped, ran, swam, or flew from my seat when I saw the group peer around the corner, light a fuse, and throw it in my direction. Instead, I sat there, said something like “oh, come on guys, what the hell”, and allowed the firecrackers & works to explode at my feet.

Fortunately nothing bad came of this.

Two: when I was young, watching the town fireworks around the 4th were always standard, as were firecrackers & works set off at home. One 4th of July we happened to have an M-80 or two… possibly three, I’m not so sure – I was pretty young.

We (including my mother), thought it a good idea to light these in the yard at home. Of course, we did this away from the house and other structures, however it seemed appropriate to do so at the base of a good-sized tree in our yard, which was also on the yard-line with the neighbor. And their house happened to be within striking distance if the tree happened to topple over from the fireworks.

We set it off, a loud bang, small explosion, and it actually damaged the base of said tree. For a short while there was real concern for the tree falling over and onto the neighbor’s house.

Fortunately, again, nothing bad came of this.


*Note: Inspired by Magpie Tales, picture:























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8 comments:

  1. You would love the pyrotechnics at Willow Manor on the 4th! Like you said, nothing bad comes of this.

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  2. Stories that took me back too!
    The sum of injuries, particularly to children has resulted in 'bangers' becoming illegal here. But all we oldies miss the fun (and danger) of playing with fire(works). We all hope 'nothing bad comes of this'.
    Stay safe!

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  3. fearless with fireworks..yikes! Good Magpie!

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  4. ummmmmm, my 4th of July's are WAAAAAAAAAY more mild! Sparklers and some firecats is about as wild as I got! LOL Glad to see you have enough of your fingers left to type a Magpie Tale! LOL

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  5. ha. fortunately nothing bad came of this...i dont know how many times i have prayed that prayer...lol...nice rememberances

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  6. That nothing bad came - is a wonderful ending to some of the silliness we do. Delightful Magpie.

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  7. loved the narrator in this piece, it almost sound like it could be part of the intro chap. to a book. really well done, great magpie!

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