What is your favorite holiday? Why is it your favorite?
For myself, I would say Independence Day (America) is my favorite holiday.
While I rarely partake of the cup of patriotism, I’d happily blow something up if given half the chance.
My mother and I would sometimes buy fireworks from the TNT stand, but I recall a few years when we went to the reservation to purchase our fireworks. They always had the best ones.
During the summers, I would often hang out with my best friend, Cedar. We would play in the woods, the fields, and most often on the beaches.
I quite like the little tanks that roll around. I also liked the battleships you could put in the water, and they would propel themselves a short distance.
The day after the 4th, you would often find unspent fireworks half-buried in the dunes. Bottle-rockets were a favorite of mine. I especially like the ones that whistled as they went up.
The sounds and the sparkle were entirely captivating.
I think the allure of fireworks lies in the environment of my upbringing. The explosions of bombs were so far removed that they became something of a fantasy or fiction.
My parents weren’t interested in guns or the military. Their own parents had served honorably, but it was not something my parents ever aspired to themselves.
I recall a neighbor in the “Old Funky Boat Yard” had a miniature hand cannon salvaged from a tall ship. I remember one cloudy day, he took it out of the case and carefully loaded the ball and gunpowder. It was incredibly loud when he discharged a shot out towards the old rail trestle.
It was absolutely marvelous!
While I was in the Boy Scouts, I had narrowly missed an opportunity to shoot at a rifle range. The instructor had finished for the day, and we were left to mess about with archery instead.
The first, and likely last, time handling a gun was at the National Guard base near Astoria, Oregon.
While attending the Tongue Point Job Corps Center, I had the opportunity to try my hand at a sort of virtual firing range that was built into the interior of a vehicle. My memory is a bit spotty, but I think it was a semi truck?
The rifle was real, so we had to be instructed on how it worked and received some basic shooting instructions. I enjoyed the experience, but I had some difficulties sighting with my glasses.
Nowadays, I have returned to simply watching explosions from a comfy seat. I don’t care much for live-action violence. I mostly stick to Sentai Squad and Mecha anime when I am in the mood for it.
Well, that will be it for today. Thank you for taking the time to read my post.
Questions or comments can be left below. Have a great day!
