PC or just me (fireworks)

[colorider]

I love fireworks and spend way too much $ every year. HOWEVER, I don't go to Wyoming and buy the mortars, rockets and other CO banned stuff. Hit up,the local stand here in Westminster off of old wads. Surprisingly, there are some pretty loud and obnoxious "legal" ones. In Westminster we have some pretty awesome fireworks laws. Pretty much if you can buy it at a local stand, you can shoot them off from 12am the 3rd till like 6pm the 5th. Sure, most the area is shooting off some amazing mortars, but I'm just not willing to shell out for the ticket and big fine if caught. Not worth it when the rest of the neighborhood provides for a great show and takes all the risk. We keep a close eye on everything and have hoses and extinguishers at the ready. Have a safe and fun 4th fellas.

[TFOGGER]

We got home from a concert at about 2345 last night. The neighbors on the cul de sac behind us decided at 0000 that it was time to start their illegal fireworks. Yes, they waited until the 5th of July to celebrate. At least they didn't stop until about 0230. I get up at 0530. Fuckers.

[JohnnyEgo]

We ended up having a relatively quiet evening. The town of Windsor began it's fireworks at 9:00, and ended at 9:25. The neighborhood kids (adults) lit off a couple of things, but they seemed to stop pretty early as well. I sat on the porch with my neighbor drinking bourbon and swapping sea stories until 11:00, and there was nobody out as I stumbled back across the street.

[TheGrey]

Yes, the sound of freedom blah blah blah. Fine. Personally, if I want to hear something emulating guns, I'll book some time at the range.

I would be happier about it if people setting off fireworks did it during daylight hours and stuck to the kind that remain on the ground. We're not in BFE; I'm in what would likely be considered a suburbanish neighborhood that is just as affected by the drought as the rest of the state. Every fucking year, the neighborhood punk gets his other buddies together and they set off fireworks in the middle of the street, twenty feet from our lawn. And he does this for hours, beginning around the 2nd and continuing through the 6th. Because he has no job and no life outside of doing drugs and selling them, he can't comprehend how this may affect other people that exist outside of his life.

I get that this is a celebration of freedom. But freedom also requires a bit of forethought- the right to swing your fist ends where my nose begins, and all that. Our neighbor is a Khe San vet. He has PTSD. He tries to put on a brave face about the assholes in our neighborhood, but he's fucking haunted by stuff I can't even fathom from the war- and although it's with him every day, it's brought to the forefront by the fireworks. He tries to mitigate the noise as best he can, but when you've got fireworks that blast loud enough to rattle the windows, it's hard to avoid.

I see both sides, and wish that those people that are determined to use their freedoms for setting off fireworks (legal or otherwise) would show a little common decency and consideration. Why the hell would it be a good idea to set off mortars at two in the morning, save to be a complete and utter dick? Set them off in a place where you don't risk setting a fire in your neighbors yard, and not in the middle of the night.

[MrPrena]

Yes, it was loud and my house shook 3-4 times on 4th. However, I gotta give our neighbors and HOA some credit. I've heard absolutely zero fire cracking at our neighborhood tonight.

[cmailliard]

Here is what our 4th looked like, at least at the beginning. We went back to Omaha to see friends and family. I forgot how much fun the 4th of July can be. It is amazing in Nebraska. All night fireworks going off everywhere, the entire skyline is lit up. Then at 2300 (fireworks curfew) it all stopped. People are allowed to celebrate and have fun and then they respect the timeline in place. Had the local PD drive by, stop, get out and chat with us. Offered him some food and drink and he spent a few minutes with us. It is awesome to see and sometimes I really miss that place.

[hollohas]

Here is what our 4th looked like, at least at the beginning. We went back to Omaha to see friends and family. I forgot how much fun the 4th of July can be. It is amazing in Nebraska. All night fireworks going off everywhere, the entire skyline is lit up. Then at 2300 (fireworks curfew) it all stopped. People are allowed to celebrate and have fun and then they respect the timeline in place. Had the local PD drive by, stop, get out and chat with us. Offered him some food and drink and he spent a few minutes with us. It is awesome to see and sometimes I really miss that place.

Awesome.

[hollohas]

As we do annually, we spent the 5th of July in Woodland Park at the Symphony Above the Clouds. Some fine men and women from Ft Carson come up to shoot cannons during the 1812 Overture, only feet away from the crowds in the thousands (including many vets) and facing in the direction of a neighborhood.

That was followed by even more fireworks. Yards from the forest.

Apparently, if there is anyone in town that doesn't like the loud noise, no one cares because they've been doing this for 37 years.

Actually, I heard that one house was not happy because the early testing of the cannons during the day caused their dog to flee... The show will go on.

[SuperiorDG]

Place I learned to climb.

While I acknowledge there are some sensitivities towards dogs and vets that should be accounted for in some way, the bigger risk in CO is wildfire. Many, many forest fires have been started by fireworks.

I'm out on the E Coast right now and one of our main climbing areas (Seneca Rocks, WV) is closed right now cause some idiots were launching fireworks off the summit.
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[Zundfolge]

I'm of two minds on this:

• On the one hand it annoys me that we've become such a nation of pussies that we can't seem to handle fireworks anymore without putting our dogs and vets on freakin' benzodiazepines.
• On the other hand we also used to be a nation of polite and decent people that didn't set off fireworks all fucking night when our neighbors had to get up and go to work in the morning.