It's 9AM
Why do we like fireworks?
They’re bright and loud and sparkly, and we’ve seen two big shows this week.
Once after the ballgame at our minor league team field downtown.
We stayed after and watched the night sky turn bright with rainbow colors and percussive skies.
And yesterday, instead of finding a lake to soak in or a pool to dip in, we stuck around the house after work and played.
We played catch in the front yard, and a game of wiffle ball challenge.
Then dinner and some fireworks before driving downtown for the big show.
I’m a get there early kind of guy, because if you’re on time, you’re late.
We’re glad we did because that gave us a chance to participate in some of the on field games before the whole shebang started.
And we won three sets of tickets of three different series in the Fall, which sets up this infinite timeline loop where we go to the games to have fun, participate and play and win tickets to future games and it never stops.
It never should.
We were there with a couple thousand people who came in through the open gates because it was free to sit and watch the show down on the River.
I had a debate with the head of marketing for the Travs about lower ticket prices getting people through the door to earn more money on higher profit margins on concessions.
But it was during a season when we were breaking attendance records so the question fell on deaf ears.
Last night, I said “Imagine this crowd for every home game.”
And he smiled.
“They’re here for the Fireworks. We do this every Friday night.”
Which they have been.
Friday Fireworks was one of their big promotions in the Spring when the Travs went on to win the First Half Division Championships.
And also keep breaking attendance records, because people love fireworks, but they love winners even more.
Which sometimes goes to show that there can be two “right” opinions that exist at the same time and the world we love and enjoy isn’t black and white.
I mean, can you imagine black fireworks in the night sky?
One of the neatest things I’ve ever seen did happen last night though.
The wind went still, and the humidity was high, so as the fireworks exploded in brilliant plumes of sparkles and flashes, the smoke mushroomed into a cloud.
That grew.
Every.
Single.
Blast.
Until it was as large as the fog rolling into the bay off the Pacific, a thick, multi-shaped entity that glowed from the inside as the rockets glared red.
And green.
And blue.
And white.
Sometimes the smoke was so dense, the fireworks were faint hints of light.
Like hints of lightening in the dusky gray.
Then the wind picked up and like a backyard fire pit searching for a victim, it blew straight across the ball field.
It floated on the breeze and settled in the stands and turned visibility into a haze.
But it moved enough away from the bridge where they were shooting from so that we could see the grand finale.
A quick succession of bams and whams and sparks and flashes, and the sound wave moving a half second behind so that the booming echoes rocked across the riverfront ball stands where we were.
We didn’t know how thick the smoke really was until they brought up the lights so people could exit the park safely.
Fifteen feet vis, maybe twenty.
And all gone by the time the last trips to the restroom were done and we were walking through the gates with the middle of the crowd.
I tried to recall big fireworks shows when I was younger.
I know Pine Bluff did big shows by the Courthouse and then in Regional Park when it opened.
I watched a lot from a boat in the middle of a lake in my mid-twenties because a local successful businessman liked to put on firework shows every Memorial Day, July 4 and Labor Day.
His shows were big enough that the city stopped putting them on for a few years because they couldn’t compete.
I’ve been around the world a few times since then, and I’m not sure anything really compares to a 4th of July fireworks parade.
But…
Life is about those days that stand out, and yesterday was one of them.
Do you remember your biggest fireworks show?
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Hi Chris. I many many years ago helped run an affro rock reggae festival at earlham park in Norwich Norfolk. At the end there was going to be a massive firework show . The bloke running it advised at a certain point to lay down to watch the display, unknown to us he planned to fire a massive air bomb with a low fast fuse , if you ever experienced having your breath knocked out of you with a punch that was what it was like. Apparently quite a few people phoned the police regarding the explosion one over 20 miles away. Needless to say that the local police wasn't to happy with us.
Fireworks most impressive. One year at Kansas City baseball 4th of July. They always had big o e every Friday night and huge one on 4th. One year something went wrong and almost all of them went up at once. it was over fast but pretty neat. I sure miss games with Dad then with Grandkids now that I can't travel.
Dad started taking me to Kansas City Athletes , New York yankee games in the old stadium by river. On a Sunday, because he worked Sat.
Back then it was 5 hour drive on 2 lane blacktop from Lincoln Nebraska. We would leave at 6am and get home around midnight. Then He would have to get up at 6am to be at work by 7. game I remember most 21-14 New York. Homers by Mantle and Maris all on dads 8mm Movie camera. a guy next to us came all the way from Scotts Bluff to see Bobby Shantz pitch. KNew him from MInor leagues. Shantz came in 2 out in 9th inning threw 1 pitch. Ground ball game over. I found out years later the guy I worked with on night shift had been at same game.