We went out to Eagle Mountain lake for the annual Cayce Party. I stopped at a fireworks stand on the way and loaded up on an assortment of toys. Although many of the fireworks look the same now as they did when I was a youngin, they are not the same. The standard roman candle, sucks… the fireballs don’t even go 20 foot. (they do make big ones I learned, because someone let me shoot one of theirs off… you better be hanging on to it when it goes off)
Then there were the “Chasers”… the biggest disappointment of all. I remember setting these things off on my grandpa’s dock: They would fly off the dock, head underwater, spin ferociously for several long seconds, then POP, making a very satisfying splash of water. Now-a-days, these impostors have about 1/10 second worth of propulsion, which makes them next to worthless.
Something I did buy that I’ve never messed with is the mortar fireworks. You get 6 mortars and a firing tube. Now these are COOL! These light off with a nice loud boom, stealthly achieve altitude, then explode with whatever option you purchased. This is where the smart money is spent. (ok, I know how dumb that was to say that)
One of the neighbors hired a professional to come out and do their fireworks show. It was crazy, better than a few municipal shows I’ve seen. I think there were 2-10 fireworks explosions in the air every second for at least 10 minutes straight.
The wise Evans gave me an important peace of wisdom, he referred to it as a universal truth, which I hope to use next year at the fireworks stand, “Bigger is Better“.
