... I think I'm *over* fireworks.
Let's be clear ... I'm not renouncing my citizenship or anything like that ... and I know it's a somewhat controversial stance to take on today of all days ... but between seeing how the puppies react and observing the additional push this year to make sure that folks are considerate of vets as well as pets, I think I'd be okay without any of the aforementioned activity.
I should probably also clarify ... I'm not talking about the well put together public displays for the community. I recall fondly sitting on the front porch of the house on Cumberland St in Lebanon to watch the annual Hills fireworks ... and then running back to the alley behind the back yard to look along the railroad tracks to the west of town to catch the highest ones in the night sky from Coleman's (which always went off later than Hills). Until the end of my time, whenever I see one of *those* types of displays, I have to repeat the famous words of our very Dutchified neighbor Mr. Miley, who exclaimed, "Awwww ... dat vas a purrrdy one!" on more than one occasion.
What I don't get? The one-offs. The kids with the snapper things. The kind you buy at roadside stands just across state lines, and then set off in the streets of town with a lighter you stole from the local 7-11 (note: that is a hypothetical scenario only and does not speak to an actual crime of which I may or may not have knowledge). Or the ones that I thought were duds in that there is no visual ... just the sonic boom that sets off car alarms ... causes pets to wake from a deep sleep (and to jump off the bed in hot pursuit of whatever it was that had wakened them) ... and makes our soldiers reach for any one of the guns they have hidden in their houses due to their condition.
It may very well be that the turning point was that one holiday in Logan Square, shortly after moving to the big city of Chicago, surrounded by families that were in the middle of the spectrum I described above ... having clearly purchased the type of armaments that you'd expect to be in a professional display, yet just as clearly setting them off from the back yards -- almost as if they were aiming for their neighbors. That evening, sitting at the outside patio table looking up at a night sky that was eerily reminiscent of the live shots of "war over Baghdad" (from the first time ... when Daddy Bush led the country) ... that's when the seeds of my displeasure were sown.
So ... have your fun. Attend a professional event in a setting where pets and vets can choose to not participate. But I'll be home comforting the boys ... and hoping that daylight comes faster than Francis Scott Key did the night he was stuck on the boat watching the bombardment of Fort McHenry. Stay safe out there people!
WE DO IT FOR THE EUSTRESS:
http://blog.brainhq.com/2013/07/01/why-we-love-fireworks-they-put-the-brain-at-the-edge-of-fear-and-fun/
SPREAD THE WORD:
http://www.dailynews.com/lifestyle/20150704/pet-owners-urged-to-keep-animals-indoors-during-july-4th-fireworks
AND KEEP ON SPREADING IT:
http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/01/health/ptsd-vets-and-fireworks-irpt/
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