July 3, 2008
Skyrockets in sight
Written by Shirley Karr in Jaunty PostThe art of making fireworks dates back to the 12th century, when the Chinese found a fun use for the gunpowder they’d invented. Fireworks have been used for special events and festivals pretty much ever since. Handel wrote Music for the Royal Fireworks in 1749 to celebrate a peace treaty, performed at Vauxhall Gardens. Many a Regency character has taken in the fireworks display at Vauxhall, even though its historical web site says fireworks “did not become a mainstay” there.
Tomorrow, I bet many of you will be venturing out into the heat and crowds to enjoy some festival or other followed by a fabulous fireworks display. Here in Portland it’s the Waterfront Blues Festival, held downtown on the banks of the Willamette River. Its fireworks are set off from barges in the middle of the river. Very cool because this way you get just as great a view if you’re on the grassy west bank near the stages and vendors, or on the industrial east side where you didn’t pay admission to the festival and are right beside the I-5 freeway.
If you don’t mind being among 65,000 or so people, there’s the display just on the other side of the Columbia River at Fort Vancouver, the first historical site west of the Mississippi. Some say it’s the largest fireworks display west of the Mississippi. We’ve never been to this one –the 11 o’clock news always reports on traffic conditions after the show and it looks worse than trying to drive out of town the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving. Often one of the local stations will broadcast the display with an appropriate sound track — gotta have the 1812 Overture at the finale. But watching it on TV is not the same as being so close you feel the rockets explode. Although this way your ears don’t ring for hours or days afterward…
Once in a while we go watch a display somewhere, but most years my husband is in bed before dark and it’s just me watching Keith Lockhart conduct the Boston Pops on TV.
The biggest display I’ve seen so far was in 1976 at the Yakima Rodeo. We weren’t really into rodeo but we’d just moved back to the states after four years in England, where we only saw fireworks on Guy Fawkes Day. The display started out as expected — one rocket followed by another after a slight pause for an appropriate ooh or aah. Then they suddenly went up in bunches and clusters, faster and louder until we were holding our hands over our ears, unwilling to blink for fear we’d miss the spectacular explosions, though it was over soon. Wow, we thought, must be a special display in honor of the Bicentennial. The next day we learned there had been an accident (no one was seriously hurt) and the whole thing had gone up at once.
This Fourth of July, my son is almost a year old so he’ll be asleep in his crib before the fireworks start. When he gets older I think it will be fun to make a big deal about watching fireworks in person as sort of a warm-up for his birthday, since the two dates are less than a week apart. And I’ll finally have someone to watch fireworks with me instead of snoring at the end of the hall. There’s something to be said for the shared experience — even if afterward it takes an hour to go the distance you usually travel in 15 minutes — that watching it on TV with only the cats for company just can’t compare.
So, are you more like me: let’s go to the fireworks show, the bigger the better and crowds and traffic are just part of the adventure; or more like my husband: seeking out a quiet place amidst the chaos?
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Shana Says:
I am definitely a quiet, no-crowds person. Even if I wanted to brave the crowds, it is just too hot in Houston to be outside for more than an hour or so. No way I am going to sit outside for a couple of hours. What I need is a penthouse apartment with a view
Maya Says:
Our big day was July 1, with lots of red and white/maple celebrations. Usually we take our boys out to see the big fireworks extravaganza set to music, buy them some of those glow in the dark bracelets, bring tea in a thermos and some donuts, make a real event. But this year, like you, we had a baby girl to deal with, so we gave the boys some sparklers and let them run around the backyard pretending to be Hawaiian fire dancers. Was great!
ladydawgfan Says:
I love fireworks shows - the longer / louder the better!! We will be seeing two this year. We went to the first tonight, since Burlington always has their show on the 3rd. Then my sister and I will be going to a neighboring town to see another show with my great-niece. Should be great fun!!
Bookmarks about Sight Says:
[...] - bookmarked by 4 members originally found by HotCuties on 2008-07-22 Skyrockets in sight http://jauntyquills.com/2008/07/03/skyrockets-in-sight/ - bookmarked by 2 members originally found [...]