Exploding Love

A loud cracking sound grabs my attention. My brother and I stop bouncing on the trampoline and let the mat slowly come to a rest as we unsuccessfully look around to pinpoint the sudden noise. It's mysterious because we are in a wooded area in East Texas, far from the city where random noises are expected to echo in the distance. Being 11 years old, my curiosity wanes as my interest in continuing to pretend like I'm a Ninja Turtle bouncing into the air resumes it's occupancy in my mind.

A couple minutes later a whistling sound rapidly catches my ear, followed by a loud pop that seems to echo off the dense trees. Without really articulating the thought, my younger brother and I conclude quickly that we can stop jumping on the trampoline and still be Ninja Turtles as we investigate this strange occurrence.

I double bounce my brother to give him the maximum amount of air time as he dismounts and then I do a forward roll and grab the metal frame as I make my way to ground level as well.

We take off running in the direction we heard the sound, but as soon as we do, the whistle and crack happens behind us. I twist my body around in confusion and excitement.

"What the heck is it?!"

Since the location cannot be determined, I opt to jog instead of full on sprint this time. Out of the corner of my eye...movement!

As I turn my head to look, a hand retracts behind a curtain and I notice the window is open. I scream "Hey! I see you!" as multiple cracking and popping sounds fill the air. Small explosions backed by a loud sound draw my attention down to the ground.

I cover my ears as my brain processes what's going on....

Fireworks?

Fireworks.

FIREWORKS!!!

When the sound of the stream of Black Cat fireworks subsides, I hear my Dad laughing from behind the open window. His laugh is contagious and so full of joy. My brother and I really only visit during the summers and he had decided to make this 4th of July holiday memorable and special.

A smile quickly spreads across my face.

Now that his cover had been blown, he looked out the window and held up two giant, and I mean GIANT, bags full of fireworks! Normally a trip to the fireworks stand meant picking 5-10 reasonably priced options. I look over at my brother and realize his face looks a lot like mine...jaw nearly to the ground, while somehow smiling in eager anticipation as well.

For the next hour we play with some good daytime type fireworks. My Dad shows us how to hold Roman Candles the right way so we don't get hurt, but can also aim and shoot tiny fireballs at stuff. Okay, okay...each other! Don't tell my mom!

We throw Pop-Its at each others feet and watch each other dance as the silver fulminate creates a tiny explosion with the impact of the ground. My dad presses one together between his thumb and middle finger and I'm shocked he can create an explosion without hurting himself. It occurs to me that if he can pop it between his fingers we do not need to dance around when they are thrown at our feet, but it's fun anyway.

We played with Sparklers and a seemingly endless supply of bottle rockets. Later we were blown away (though not literally), when my dad tied a couple dozen 100-count Black Cats together to make one huge firecracker that seemed like it would never stop it's repetitive cracking/explosive sound!

Soon enough though it looked like our supply was running low and we got called in for dinner. It seemed a little early for dinner, but I was hungry and didn't question it. What I thought was strange is my dad never made it to the dinner table. In fact, we couldn't find him for the next two hours.

It was not uncommon for my Dad to work countless hours. Even though we were only visiting, he couldn't be around all the time. As I've grown and become a father myself, of course it's quite obvious that Dad's still have to work in the summer, even if their kids are out of school.

I enjoyed the time we had with him before dinner with all those fireworks and would never forget it, but now it was time to go back to entertaining ourselves. Honestly, this was quite easy in the wooded area where there are all sorts of trails to explore and wildlife to chase around. The sun was setting and I noticed a few lightening bugs (that's what we call them) flashing nearby.

To my surprise though, Dad was not done playing and not off somewhere working. He came zooming around the house on a four-wheeler, squeezed the brake, and jerked the handle as he skid and came to a stop. His absence during dinner was not due to work, but rather because he was up to something else.

"Get on! I have another surprise for you boys!"

My brother sat in front of my dad and I sat behind him, wrapping my arms around his midsection. I was flooded with love as I lay my head on his back and tried to connect my hands together in front of him. After making sure we had our grips, he took off. We went around the house and took a short trail nearby until we ended up at the lake shore.

The sun had set fast behind the hills and trees and it was now pretty dark.

"Sit on those blankets for a minute." he said as he pointed and walked off a little ways.

The silhouette of my father was definitely busy, but I we couldn't quite make out what he was doing. I heard the striking sound a lighter makes and noticed a couple small flames.

Then the most magical moment happened...

I heard three quick whistling sounds followed by multiple loud bangs. Then more flickering light, more whistles, and more powerful cracking sounds filled the night sky.

The audible sound was nothing compared to the visuals. Giant bursts of light filled they sky and reflected off the lake water. This was astronomically better than the bottle rockets we were playing with earlier. The echo of the pop followed by the brilliance of beautiful bright colors was awe-inspiring. First flashes of red, then blue. Then green, followed by white and then more red. My dad was hard at work carrying out his elaborate July 4th plan. As the lights of one crackling firework faded, another whistle zoomed and another burst of light exploded in the sky.

I had of course seen fireworks before, but never so up close and personal, and never over any body of water. The reflection off the calm lake water made it seem like two for the price of one and this Freedom Day celebration was geared specifically to our family. I remember smiles, hugs, laughter, and fun. It was magical, mesmerizing, and majestic.

As I reflect back on the effort my dad put into this experience, my heart is filled with joy. He seemed to always work 12-15 hour days and since I really only visited for any significant amount of time in the summer, we did not have near as much time together as I would have liked.

This summer in particular stands out...not as a moment where my dad spent a lot of money on fireworks, but rather as a moment where he went above and beyond to express his love for us.

And I've never forgotten.