Monday, July 5, 2010

Celebrating Independence Day

We decided to invite a bunch of neighbors over yesterday evening to watch us light some fireworks. Altogether we had about twenty people, thought it fluctuated a bit as some would come and some would go.



Suddenly we heard a tremendous BOOM!!!!! We looked over and saw a pillar of smoke. Turns out another neighbor had shot off his cannon. (Yes, we have a neighbor with a cannon. This is Idaho, after all. And before anyone asks, yes it’s legal – for him. I won’t explain further beyond that.)


I wasn't the only one taking pictures.


I asked everyone to assemble for a group shot.


At dusk the kids lit sparklers.



Then Don started with the cones and other fancy fireworks.




The dogs were in the yard during all this, and at one point I figured I'd better check up on them. Major was fine, but I found poor Lydia huddled in the farthest corner of the yard. I put both dogs in the house. Major just sacked out in his usual spot (he's a fairly complacent old boy) but Lydia rushed into my office cubbyhole and hid under my desk.


The aftermath.

9 comments:

  1. love the sparkler photos . It is neat how you did that !

    Tina

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  3. Wow! That looks like fun!

    It's also fun to see people I recognize from elsewhere on the web like Sir K. And that looks a lot like Master HG's dirt bike in one of the pictures.

    Also, lots of people own cannons. They even have target shooting competitions, though not in areas with 2 acre zoning! And I'm not talking about those little brass starter's cannons for yacht races. Watch the movie Gettysburg. Almost all of the Civil War weaponry you see is owned privately by re-enactors including the cannons.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuaZrByGSX8&feature=related

    Bill Smith

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  4. Ooh, poor Lydia! Do you think the cannon might have started her fright? We think cannons are super cool (in the right hands), but most dogs don't. Continue to enjoy your posts. Read Don's post, too; he and my DH could definitely have a meeting. Jennifer

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  5. Ditto to what Tina said.

    No private fireworks allowed here -- a big wildfire risk; and the city has no money for fireworks (but plenty for "field trips" for the city council).

    What's up with Lloyd?

    Anonymous Twit
    USA

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  6. Would be interested to know how you exposed for the firework shots and still got enough of the people . . ..

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  7. LOL, Quedula - I'm not much of a photographer - I don't know an aperture from a hole in the wall - so I just pointed the camera, held very still, and let the camera click through a slow shutter speed. Taking the photos during such low light was largely experimental and I'm just durned lucky they turned out. Of course I haven't posted the ones that *didn't* turn out...

    - Patrice

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  8. We did much the same for the Fourth, but no fireworks. I'm old, cranky, and tired of listening to them. We did however set up a stage and had good music until way late and we also had a cannon. Brass scale model of an old navy cannon. If a projectile is needed, a C cell works just fine and we've fired them several hundred yards. Also did a little shooting before the music. Freedom is a wonderful thing, I just wish more people could enjoy it and hope we keep a little of it.

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  9. Great sparkler shots. Happy Independence!

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