Checking out at Ream's, the teenage bagger asked me if I was going to go watch fireworks tonight.
"I don't know," I said. "Are there fireworks tonight?"
"Oh yeah -- over at Ira Allen Park," he answered as he put my cherries in a plastic bag, not on top of the bananas (I watched). "It's huge! Bigger than Stadium of Fire, and it's all set to music. You just park your car there, and sit right under them".
He lost me at "park your car". I've been in more than one traffic jam on the 4th of July or 24th of July (we celebrate a fireworky pioneer day in Utah) that's lasted hours, and has left me with visions of myself in a tank running over cars in my path with a maniacal laugh. Bad traffic's not a good situation for someone like me with little patience. Dutiful mother that I am, I came home and told Jeff anyway, and we thought about it while slogging through the usual Saturday chores (sometimes I hate my yard). 9:00 hits and it's decision time. "Why don't we go up Whiting canyon to that path we sled on in winter, and head south instead of north?" he asks. "I'll bet we get a great view of them from there".
I'm a little dubious when I look on the map and notice how far south the park is, but then, I'm often dubious with new suggestions so I keep my mouth shut instead of being a jerk. Kai lays on the couch pouting. "I thought we were going to get close to the fireworks. I don't want to go far away to see" he whines.
"It'll be great" I answer --the cheerleader now. "Get in the car".
The kids grab saltines, cream cheese, soynuts, raisins, and honeydew chunks. I'm not exaggerating. "Do I need my water bottle?" Tia asks? "Jeez." Jeff says under his breath. "It's not going to be that long". She grabs it anyway, making us wait for her again. Lately, every time we go somewhere this seems to happen. Ominous foreshadowing for the rest of her teenage years.
When we get to the horse trailer parking lot, Kai doesn't want to get out of the car. "What about wolves?" he says in a small voice. "Aren't there wolves up here?"
"Yeah" Jeff says ("shut-up Jeff" I think), "but not right here".
"We'll walk with Daddy in front and you kids go in the middle and I'll be in the back" I say. "If wolves come they'll eat us up and you'll be fine. Seriously, Dad and I run and walk up here all the time. There aren't any wolves". Are there? I wonder. They're endangered and stuff, so I'm pretty sure there aren't...
We walk in the dark, and every other minute, we see a firework explode in a different part of the city spread out below us. I'm pretty sure none of them are from Ira Allen park. There's not a real path, just little mini clearings we thread our way through, trying to get near the edge of the mountain to get the best view.
Ari asks if she can wear my headlamp once we stop to wait, sure now that we're just too early, and the "real" fireworks will start any minute.
"No I say, we're going to leave it off now until it's time to walk back." I'm always shutting her down, and feel slightly guilty until she asks if she can wear it on her head anyway and I hand it over. I doubt I'm the best mother for her. I turn on my phone and surf food blogs (mother of the year I know) while waiting for the start of the show. Jeff walks off to see if he can find a better spot, and a few minutes later we see his headlamp bobbing back through the dark towards us. No luck. It's after 10:00 now and I'm pretty sure they've started and we're missing them, but I don't say anything. Jeff says he's going to try the other direction, and Kai goes with him, which I can tell cheers Jeff up a little. We all eventually migrate over to where they stand, but don't see much, and Ari's started shivering in the breeze.
"Well, should we go?" Jeff asks. "Yeah" I say, "maybe we can still find them if we go over by Brandie's neighborhood". I lead the way without any real idea of where I'm going, just a general direction, but get lucky, and we stumble back to our car.
"Are we going home or are we still trying?" Jeff asks as our headlights sweep a circle around the edge of the parking lot and turn down the mountain.
"Let's still try" I say, typing a new blog address into my phone. It doesn't take even a quarter mile before we start seeing big flashes off to the left.
"There they are! Kids! Look!" Jeff says, passing an open field. Huge sea anemones of pink and purple, and jets of white light fill the sky. The bagger was right. These are some serious fireworks.
"I'm tempted to just stop right here to watch" Jeff says, and slides the car over to the side of the road. We watch for a while.
"That kind" Ari says. "That's the kind I mean that's my favorite".
"This must be the grand finale" I say as flower upon flower explode right on top of each other in the sky. A few minute later I say it again. Then later I think it finally must really be the grand finale. I can't believe the money they put into this show.
"I'm ready to go home" Kai says. "Aren't you liking it?" Jeff asks. "yeah, but I'm getting sick of it now" he answers. Jeff laughs. "Man I love you bud" he says. Kai's a crackup sometimes. The sky goes dark, and through the open car windows we hear clapping from the dark front yard of the house next to our car. I had no idea anyone was there. "woooo!" I yell --just so they know we're there too. "woo hoo!" they yell back, still clapping. "Wooo hoo hoo!" I say, and Jeff laughs as he pulls the car away from the curb. "I'm so glad I'm married to you" he says. "You're so fun".
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