An Old Fashioned Fourth

I forgot just how much fun it could be to spend the Fourth of July somewhere where fireworks are legal. Tonight, after spending much of the day with my father-in-law and his new dalmation Buddy in Santa Paula, we headed over to my wife's cousin's house in nearby Fillmore. Fireworks are illegal in Santa Paula, but very much legal in Fillmore, with probably two dozen stands lining the main drag through town.

We stopped at one of them and helped support the First Assembly of God Church to the tune of $67 and bought a large pack of fountains, sparklers and stuff. The streets of Fillmore were lined with knots of people shooting off their wares (including a lot of stuff they didn't buy in Fillmore) and we had a great time of it. My daughter is 18, but has never had the experience of lighting off her own fireworks. My son did a lot of that last year in Oklahoma, but this was our first family fireworks night.

The sparklers you can buy today are a disappointment for those of us who remember the old 2,000 degree wire type we had as a kid. Those things really sparkled and shot glittering spots in all directions (including onto your own hands and arms). The new ones are pretty gimpy compared to those.

Fountain technology has come a long way. We had the old conical fountains that gave you a few seconds of one type of display. The new fountains have multiple chambers, and over 30 seconds or so, may generate as many as 6 or 8 completely different displays. They're more expensive, but they're also more impressive.

You could really see the difference in celebrations when it was time to leave Fillmore. It was just a bit after 9pm and the streets were still active with people and brightly colored sparks. Big displays were also going off around town. Just 10 miles west we entered Santa Paula where there was only one big community display and a scattered pop or two. The streets were empty and it appeared that the Fourth was going uncelebrated. The scene in Fillmore was the way I remember July 4th as a kid, and the way the 4th ought to be celebrated today, except for the nanny-staters who have managed to outlaw anything fun because a few morons do stupid things.

I hope you had an enjoyable evening and were able to shoot off a few fireworks of your own...legal or otherwise.