Booms and crackles

Growing up, we never shot fireworks on the fourth of July.  If we really really wanted to watch them, we could generally see the fireworks being shot off at the park a mile or so away from my grandparents' deck.

My grandfather was an ophthalmologist and so he saw the effects of people playing with fireworks when they shouldn't, whether it be because they didn't know what they were doing, were too young to be playing, or just too close to the action.  He pretty much convinced us that we would lose an eye if we got too close to the fireworks, so we stuck to watching them from the deck.

 Not that I needed an excuse to stay away from fireworks.  I didn't like the noise so I was completely okay with not getting near fireworks.  and I stuck with it to through adulthood; I have tended to dread fourth of July evening and the evenings all around it because of the noise and jolt I get from being surprised with the crackles and booms.

Gwendolyn was super excited about the fireworks this year though.  She talked about them for two weeks leading up to the fourth.  "Can we go watch them?"  "I can't wait to see the fireworks.  We can just watch them on television." "I'm so excited about watching the fireworks!"

So we agreed to go watch the fireworks.  We went out to one of our friends' house, just outside of the city limits, and they shot off fireworks for about 20 minutes.  Twenty minutes was about long enough for the mosquitoes to try to carry us off.

And as it turns out, Gwendolyn takes after me and the noise associated with fireworks bothers her.  Maggie, on the other hand, hooted and hollered and cheered the fireworks on.  And I wasn't bothered so much by the crackles and booms this year.

Linking up with Photo story Friday and Fabulous Friday, Photo Challenge: Something Patriotic