School would be out, the heat was nearly always sweltering, and trips were usually in order to the Columbia River so as to go swimming with the strains of Kenny Loggins on the radio.
I remember the 4th of July.
It was a time of celebration.
Standing at the fireworks stand on the side of the road with those few hard-earned dollars clutched my hand, the excitement; the anticipation of what I was going to purchase as row upon row of pyrotechnics were splayed out before me like sweets in Willy Wonka’s candy shop.
I remember blowing up cowpies with firecrackers. This was—by far—one of the greatest and little-known of pastimes for me and my longtime friend, Jess. We’d see how close we could get to the bovine pastry and still not get hit by shrapnel when the crater was blown from the varied meadow tarts we encountered. The fresher the better, and juicy was all about splatter.
Oh, those simple, carefree days of youth when the biggest worries were usually about who would get the grape popsicle and who had to have the orange one.
Happy Fourth, from Teachinfourth.
Sadly, I did not take any of these photos, they may all be viewed at their sources:
http://www.wallpaper.net.au/redirect.shtml
http://www.jpgmag.com/photos/116766
http://image60.webshots.com/60/7/82/47/409578247XzNRqv_fs.jpg
8 comments:
Love the writing, I could read it all day. Though blowing up cow pies..... I grew up on a farm and that is one thing we never did, or at least that I'm not aware of.....
Seems like it was just last week!
My roomie and I were talking about favorite fireworks last night. I remembered the thrill of my favorite fireworks: waiting until it became dark enough out to throw out spinning flowers (even if they didn't spin that much on our gravel driveway) and, until the night fell, playing with those magic growing worms...
i always loved spinning flowers as well. The best is that if you tossed them up after lighting them so that they started spinning in the air, you could have them land and spin on top of water. :)
YOU really blew up cow poop with fire crackers!? That is crazy boy stuff, isn't it?!
I remember a few fourths with your family. Going down to the river was one good one. We used to float around on big tire tubes. And the cold watermelon sitting in the water all day.
Bovine pastry? Meadow tarts? I could picture this exactly as you described it. And those 2 phrases are stuck in my head. They have been making me giggle all morning. I hope you had a good 4th!
Oh, lordy. We have the cowpies in abundance (Izzy the Chihuahua has a distinct fondness for getting loose and rolling around in around 3 of them after a bath)but I must say we have NEVER blown one to smithereens with a firecracker and placed bets on who could get closest without getting poop-tagged. Only you, T4. Or perhaps Lawson.
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