Pyrotechnic Ponderings

Like much of Cockeysville, my family will be seeking a perch somewhere in town to watch the annual Fourth of July fireworks show at Oregon Ridge Park, courtesy of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s Star Spangled Spectacular. This will be the second year for both of our kids to take part in this annual tradition, but I’m not exactly sure how it’s going to go.

For one thing, it requires keeping both children up past their bedtime in order to see the show. I’m not at all opposed to that for special occasions like this one, but preventing kids from getting enough sleep can set them up for a grumpy night of “fun.”

Last year was the first time we had taken our daughter, Lucy, who is now 3 ½, to see fireworks. We didn’t know what she’d think of them, whether she’d be afraid or whether she’d fall asleep in her car seat long before the sky lit up. But our worries amounted to nothing – she stayed awake and didn’t get scared. We’ll see how she holds up this year, when she seems more likely to be frightened by the loud noises given the fact that she now thinks lawnmowers and Kitchen Aid mixers are too loud.

Isaac, who turned 1 in May, is a wild card. He came with us last year, too, but I’m pretty confident that at age 2 months, he had no idea what was going on and slept through the whole thing. He very well could do the same thing this year, or maybe he’ll be the one who is scared out of his mind or is delighted by the spectacle.

Either way, it will be a memorable night. I can still see back to a Fourth of July fireworks display that I watched with my family probably 30 years ago. I can tell you that I was wearing the choo-choo themed pajamas that my mom had sewn for me and that I was allowed to sit on the hood of our yellow Ford Pinto station wagon to watch the show. It feels like yesterday. My children are probably too young to remember this particular July 4^th, but I’m not. I plan to savor it.