Free Firework Shows
I have always liked free firework shows. Where I grew up, they were an important part of any celebration. We had civic and religious celebrations sprinkled all over the calendar. Moreover, before Christmas, we had 9 days of celebration, when local authorities would organize free firework shows for everyone. Fireworks were very cheap and available back then, and people didn’t care so much about the environment as we do now, so it was perfectly acceptable in those times to have free firework shows all the time.
Aside from the free firework shows that the authorities organized, my father and my uncle would buy tons of firecrackers and organize shows and games with firecrackers at my grandfather’s house. Although my female cousins weren’t very interested in them, my brother, my male cousins and I had the time of our lives.
One of the games that my father taught us was something we called rockets. We each would get one of the fireworks of the kind that flied while leaving a trace. Then, under my father and uncle’s supervision, we’d put it on a steel tub and aim it at a target. My father or uncle would always be the ones that lighted the firework. The targets were very simple, but my favorite one was a bucket that was rested against something, so that its mouth was facing to us. For some reason, I found it more fun to make my firework go inside the bucket than hit a target. When we were small, we’d use big targets, like said bucket, but as we grew, we used smaller ones, like cans. They were really extremely difficult to hit, but then again, we cared more about seeing the pretty lights than in hitting the target.
Sometimes our neighbors would buy really professional (to me) fireworks, which would fly from their houses high into the sky. Since we didn’t pay anything to watch, they were like free firework shows for us.
I’m married now and I have children of my own. I still take them to see free firework shows whenever I have the occasion. My girl is sometimes scared, but I always tell her that daddy is there to protect her from the noise. The little boy, who is younger, is just amazed. He must think it’s some kind of magic that appears in the middle of the sky.
Of course, I don’t buy fireworks like my father and uncle used to. I’m much more environmentally conscious about them and I also worry about the safety of my children. I don’t blame my father or my uncle. Their understanding of the world was different back then and they brought me tons of joy.
However, unlike them I think I will stay only with the few free firework shows that local authorities organize. After all, they’re free.
