PHOONT! Oooooooo! Ahhhhhhhh!
(Detail from a photo by Gubby; used by permission from said Gubby)
Fireworks shows in our area usually start just before pitch black dark hits. I know this because when I was young I used to stand on the deck facing the Sierras, staring longingly at Chico 20 miles to the east, and watching the fireworks bloom like tiny psychedelic mushrooms on the horizon. Yeah, okay, I was somewhat pathetic, but at least I have learned what time fireworks are supposed to start. So Friday night, after eating dinner and cleaning up, we rushed to get to the fireworks show in time.
We needn't have rushed.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Park had ample space left to stake our claim, and so we did. We people-watched. Two guys had a football and were throwing spirals over our blanket, nearly decapitating me on only one occasion. There were several frisbee games going, but my favorite were the Frisbee Smokers. They had extra talent, it was clear, each playing frisbee with one hand and pinching a cigarette in the other hand.
All lawn chairs and blankets were pointed toward the fairgrounds, from where the fireworks would be launched. We could hear the noise of the car races, like a hive of angry bees, wafting up from the raceway. Oh yeah, Friday night races. This could be interesting timing.
At around 10:00 we heard the unmistakable sound of fireworks and looked up, hopeful. The crowd realized en masse that we were hearing the sounds of the Chico Outlaws' fireworks show across town. We slumped. Sigh. We had considered parking in view of those fireworks, but it's tricky to get a good view in the old part of Chico, with all the oaks and sycamores blocking the view of the sky.
So we waited out the show, our children losing faith in us as the minutes dragged by. The girls ran around with other little kids and had a blast, in between pouts. It actually got chilly on the field -- imagine! Almost cold, in July, in the North Valley! It's never happened before. So we enjoyed the evening until the toddlers on the field started breaking down, one by one, and anxious parents glowered darkly in the direction of the raceway.
Seven minutes before 11:00, we heard the first PHOONT! and saw the starburst. All was well in Parent Land. We were redeemed in the eyes of our sleepy children.