The little fireworks as always started days ahead of the official celebration on the 4th. As somebody with a series of small dogs over the years who reacted badly to the loud noises, it never was the most pleasant of times. Now with no pets other than a "few well-behaved houseplants" I'd hoped for something more peaceful, the way last year was.
Fine, call me a fool!
Mother Nature started it off with a thunderstorm, which defied the reputation of storms in this area for going around in every other direction by hitting us directly this time in mid-late afternoon, bringing both noise and lots of rain with it. Luckily we didn't lose power, though lots of places in the state did, per this morning's news. I'd had warning of possible weather, and headed out to relocate a couple plants which needed a deeper location before it all arrived so they'd get well settled without my needing to drag out the hose, but just emptying a rain bucket instead over their new location. It had the added benefit of not giving mosquitoes a chance to hatch out in its wet bottom. I'll dump it again this afternoon.
I'll also head out to check our rain gauge. I wasn't in the mood at the time, since once the storm stopped making booms the neighbors began. It had been happening in small bits for days, as it does every year in the general area. It's a great time to stay indoors even without disturbed pets. Too many stupid, careless people setting them off. While our state has fairly strict laws on personal fireworks, it's a very short hop across the border into Wisconsin which has much more liberal laws and doesn't bother to check which side of the border they'd be lit in. Apparently inflation and gas prices didn't make an impact this summer for the personal budgets set aside for noise and light shows.
In the decades I've lived - or at least summered - in the general area I've seldom noticed parents supervising kids in setting them off, nor policing their trash afterwards. (Your fireworks from the middle of the street or your backyard bonfire land in the neighbors yard? Not your problem!) I'd hoped that being in a seniors area, we could escape all that. (When living in Sun City, the sheer size of that senior community meant we escaped local fireworks and kid events like trick-or-treating. Oh horrors, the penalty of eating your own bowl of candy!) Normally we could, but too many people acquired the big boomers this year. From where the sounds originated, every person living on any of the lakes in the area had their own hour's worth of illegal ones to set off out over their own piece of lakeshore. If I had drones and energy I'd be curious how many fish are floating on the lakes' surfaces as a result. I had visions of Crocodile Dundee fishing with dynamite sticks in one of his movies.
Am I overreacting? This cluster of communities doesn't normally set off their own shows. One has to drive a dozen miles to large central displays, find parking, bring your own blanket or folding chairs, bug spray, and beverages , settle in on the beach and watch the show, stick around afterwards to let the drunks have a chance to get off the roads before you go on them. It loses its charm. Our town has its own fireworks at a different annual celebration a week or two later, and one can look down our street and see the high ones over the tops of the trees. Just sit or stand on the front porch for a few minutes or as long as you want. You can still get all the noise you want - and then some - over about 20 minutes. No long drives, all the amenities of home without the lines and inconvenience.
Last night the noise started early. Typical formal displays start at ten, when it's dark enough to see them all clearly. For neighborhood displays though, many people not only neglect safety, they don't care what you wanted to listen to or when, or how terrified your pets are. Last night once the rain stopped, the man-made booms began, everything from little pops to industrial-level BOOMS! I could have sworn I was living in the middle of 18 different towns, not 500 scattered pyrotechnic neighbors. Not only did it start days ahead on the small home scale, once it started last night it simply didn't stop.
I told myself things would simmer down around eleven, the way it does every other year. There were times it was so loud and incessant I stuck my head out to see if despite lack of announcements our town was in fact setting them off nearby, or the next one over in any direction. Nope, dark. So local yokels with big pocketbooks and a need to out-compete the world. Got it.
I tried to sleep after that, already past my usual time. I figured it had to stop soon, right? An hour's worth is good enough for everybody, right? Two hours later it hadn't slowed. And yes, the huge boomers were still going off. Would anybody have noticed if somebody shot their domestic partner? Or had a drive-by shooting? Ignore it folks, just another firecracker, enjoy!
But did they all have to keep going until 2AM on the 5th? Seriously?
It's such an "interesting" combination of being wired and sleep deprived. I'm having my morning mug of coffee. At this point it ought to relax me enough to get some decent sleep. OK, maybe an hour nap. Perhaps by midnight.
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