Oh say, can you see?
We sat on our back patio on the 4th set to enjoy what we thought would be a quiet meal with some good friends. But all around us we experienced “the rocket’s red glare” and “bombs bursting in air.” For a moment, I got a glimpse of what it might feel like to live in Baghdad.
Welcome to my neighborhood - El Monte - where instead of celebrating our nation’s independence with hand-held sparklers and flame-shooting fountains that blacken the curbs and sidewalks, my neighbors lit M-80s and shot off huge exploding fireworks into the sky. This was not small-time. This was bigger even than those block parties you might have experienced as a kid. It was a pyrotechnic extravaganza, and it was amazing. Everywhere we looked, in every direction, there was another fireworks display in the air above one of the back houses that fill my block. My city is one of the few in Los Angeles County that still permits the sale and use of fireworks on 4th of July, but with the amount of illegal fireworks I saw this weekend, I can’t imagine that will last long. It’s too bad though - free show, no crowds. You can’t beat that.
