Fireworks!

On July 4th, it is tradition in my family to attend fireworks. Therefore, it was imperative that, even though we are here in Oklahoma, we attend fireworks. So tonight, Austin and I watched Chickasha, Oklahoma's fireworks celebration.

Fireworks in Oklahoma are vastly different than those in Alabama for one reason: the landscape. No mountains, hills, and Vulcan statues interfere with firework viewing. I never realized how much they get in the way. The sky is huge here, therefore the fireworks appear much larger. Watching fireworks in Alabama will never be the same, I'm afraid.

Viewing these fireworks also reminded of previous firework-watching experiences. I have a few fun memories from my different experiences with my family. Take for instance, the one year we watched fireworks in Demopolis, Alabama. There I encountered a boy obsessed with a certain type of firework. His favorite were the ones were a large firework would burst, and then a smaller, louder firework with no light trail would "sneak" up and go off unexpectedly. Whenever these would occur during that particular show, this boy would yell, "SNEAK ATTACK!" It was funny about the first 4 times. Then it got annoying.

This particular experience was not without fond memories, either. When the fireworks started this one kid started screaming at the top of his lungs; not in terror, but in shear excitement. I laughed. Hard. Because it was funny.

Which brings me to an impromptu list of Fireworks Etiquette:

1) When watching fireworks, it is advisable not to bring the car with the insanely bright headlights and proceed to, every five minutes, open the car door to root around for unknown objects therefore blinding innocent patrons with aforementioned bright headlights.

2) Dogs do not belong at a fireworks show. Neither do infants. That's just cruel. Toddlers are a little more difficult to judge. The cute 3-year-old who yells "Daddy, I want to touch the lights!" is cute for about a minute. Then it's not. Althought, there are some cool toddlers that could care less about the sound, nor the bright lights. I want a kid like that.

3) While the fireworks are going off, please do not launch your own. It's distracting and will never measure up. So don't even try.

4) Please do not applaud after the fireworks show. It's about as useful as applauding at the end of a movie. In other words: Don't waste your time.

5) Finally, while a fireworks show is going on it is not cool to drive your car without a muffler along the main drag and try to rev your engine. No one is paying any attention to you, I promise.

And I feel compelled to say to all fireworks display designers: A finale is mandatory. Ending a fireworks show without a finale is pretty much un-American.

This was fun.