Fourth of July Celebrations

Fourth of July corn — cooked on the barbecue,
not incinerated by a rogue firework.

The Fourth of July is a noisy experience here in the 'hood. The fireworks started in April and have been gathering steam daily. Since the Alhambra fireworks' stands opened in mid-June, the daily and nightly explosions have multiplied.

When we first moved here, the loud daytime bangs made us jump. I didn't know that some fireworks are just loud booms that people set off during daylight hours. By the time the Fourth occurred, we could barely eat from the stress of unexpected explosions.

Now, many years later, we rarely jump. And we're able to eat our Fourth of July cookout. But we make sure to have finished dinner by 7 p.m. That's when we move inside with dessert, close the windows, put on the air conditioning, and "enjoy" many hours of fireworks through our living room windows.

This year, when we went to bed at 10:30 p.m., the show was still going on.

Did I mention that fireworks are illegal in the city of Los Angeles?