It's been one of those weeks when I have been itching for a fight. I don't know why. Some sort of brain-chemical thing either on overload or not enough ...... but I think I have a good reason.
Fireworks.
I'm not opposed to fireworks in general. On the contrary, I love a big display of them -- done by professionals. There's something about the technique and precision of a good pyro display that's almost as cool as the display itself. I haven't seen it in person, but I have seen tape of a Labor Day fireworks show on the Ohio River in Cincinnati which was completely phenomenal -- set to music and done SO well, it was mind-boggling.
What makes me less-than-happy is the fireworks done by amateurs in their front yards, just for the annoyance of everyone around. And even those aren't so bad all the time. The problem for us this year in particular is this: we're in an extreme drought!!!!!!!!!
Our county was one of five in the entire state recently bumped up to the worst status possible. Five counties, all in a row, all the furthest inland, and all with man-made lakes which are way below full capacity. The local newspaper has had a week-long series about the drought, the water issues with it, etc. There are two major problems that people discuss here: gas prices and the lack of rain. What little rain we've gotten has been just enough to settle the dust, enough to make the windshield wet but that's it. I doubt the last two sudden showers/drizzles we've had measured a total of one-tenth of an inch. This is truly trouble.
Why, why, why the city didn't come out with a quickie ordinance saying, "Listen, this year, no fireworks. We know you'll understand" --- well, I don't know why. It certainly would have made sense. And it hits fairly close to home.... there's an unoccupied house next to ours. While the structure itself is cinder block, the roof isn't. The front and back yards aren't. All it would take would be one errant firework, and.....WOOOSH!!!! Same goes for a huge open field that abuts the entire block. It's a big gulley with nothing but vegetation -- most of it desperately dry. Again, all it would take is one bottle rocket to go off-course.......
I'm not even going to discuss what it must have been like for the dogs in the neighborhood. Suffice to say we gave Maddox a couple of calming tablets and he STILL didn't go to sleep until after midnight, when they mercifully decided to pack it in for the night.
What are people thinking? Or more to the point, why aren't people thinking?
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3 comments:
At least your moron neighbors stopped at midnight....that's when mine got going! It was blissfully quiet all evening, until about 12:30 when the across the court neighbors began launching fireworks. I let it go until about 1:15 when I went out and asked them nicely to stop - did threaten to call the cops. They didn't stop. They were setting them off every 10 mins or so - just when you think they'd stopped a huge noisy one would go off...I couldn't believe the rest of the "hood" was putting up with the racket, but I didn't see anyone else telling them to stop and my asking did nothing. Almnost called the cops but really didn't want all that drama... Finally at almost 2 am I went to sleep - I'm assuming they stopped.
Rednecks and fireworks. What a combination.
You'd think Georgia - a state which "forbids"* fireworks (more on that in a sec) - might be an area safe from such home-based pyrotechnics.
Nope! Last year, in particular, several folks in our area were shooting off a bunch of fireworks (not sure if they were on our street, but they were close enough). This was going well into the night, didn't taper off 'til about 1 AM or so.
(Fortunately, this year has seemed to be largely quiet. We went over to Hilton Head and didn't get back until about midnight. Not a pop or boom to be heard.)
As with Maddox, we had Puddy to worry about ... like most dogs, she does NOT suffer fireworks very well. We couldn't get her to go outside, and even with a leash on, she wouldn't leave the porch.
Calling the cops only invites retribution. And they don't care (that is, unless WE were the ones doing it -- of course, then we'd get busted and used as an example).
* = Georgia technically outlaws 'em, but a year or two ago they began allowing the "lightweight" kind, i.e. some sparklers, etc. Meanwhile, South Carolina and Alabama are both firework meccas at the state line.
And shooting 'em off under extreme drought?? W-T-F????? I'm sure those inbreds would love it if their homes were to go up in flames. Or, worse, if their pickups in their driveway blew up.
Humans......
Got so hot under the collar about morons with fire that I forgot to say....
The labor fireworks in Cincinnati totally rock! I have never actually been down there for Riverfest however we watched the fireworks several times from a friend's grandmother's house in Clifton - right on the hill overlooking the river. We'd tune the radio to WEBN for the simulcast and it was cool! Even better though was to watch it on TV...then you could see it from all angles.
One major part of the whole Riverfest weekend is the Rubber Duck Reggata which is a fundraiser for the fee store - a food bank - my parents are good friends with the guy who is in charge of that so they'd always get to go down the day after and wipe Ohio River crud off the duckies. I even have a ducky that they got for me when they were cleaning...I believe it was given to my mom...I'm sure she didn't steal it.
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