Fireworks

My Take

DiVoran Lites

The Fourth of July is a fine celebration of the freedoms won and wrangled for us. Churches and families have get-togethers and picnics and later in the day the sky lights up with exploding stars. I always think of the Star Spangled banner “…and the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air gave proof through the night that the flag was still there.”

“After all,John Adams did say he hoped the anniversary of independence would be marked for years to come by “guns” and “bonfires” and “illuminations.” Because the first July 4 fireworks display happened in the middle of the Revolutionary War, some historians believe they were supposed to be a “morale booster.” The celebrations at the time would have also included the firing of cannons and guns, adding to the explosive nature of the festivities. With the war’s end and increasing concern for public safety, those firearms were eventually phased out of the celebrations and replaced almost entirely by the fireworks, which were often given the official stamp of approval in the hope of drawing citizens to public celebrations instead of more dangerous private firework shows.”

Do all boys and men love fire or just 99% of them? Bill is one of the Ordnance engineers who was responsible for the second stage/interstage separation system of the Saturn V Moon rocket that you sometimes see on TV.  And our son, Billy, is now an environmentalist who never misses a controlled burn to keep the woods healthy if he can help it. I jokingly call the two of them pyromaniacs. I use the word lightly, though. The on-line synonyms are arsonist, firebug, and incendiary. It always startled me when I called Bill at work and the person who picked up answered with, “Pyro!” But, they probably meant pyrotechnics, not pyromaniacs.

Anyhow, when the kids were small we always drove down to the river to watch the fireworks off the cape. AND one of the most enchanting things the Bills liked to do when we went camping was to build our campfire and if a grill was available to start it up, too. They’ve always used fire safely, except once for the younger Bill. One day, he found a match and thought he’d just burn a little dry grass behind the house to see the pretty fire, but it quickly got out of hand and someone called the fire department. By the time we got the fire out we heard the whee, whee, whee, of the fire engine in front of our house. Two burly firemen came around to the backyard and one of them asked. “Who did this?”

“Me sir,” Billy said pulling up to his full Cub Scout height.

The fireman seemed gentle and understanding, but Billy’s voice quaked as he explained what he had done and exactly how he had done it.

Then the fireman had his say. “Now son, you know you could have burned down some woods here and maybe even some houses. You look like a fine young man to me, you don’t want to be arrested for arson do you?”

“No, sir!” Billy said, even though he couldn’t have recognized the word arson.

As the fire engine pulled away, Billy was more excited about the fireman talking man to man with him than afraid. He always remembered, then, to be as careful as his dad had continually taught him to be.

The great and beloved Christian, Peter Marshall said, “May we think of freedom not as the right to do as we please, but as the opportunity to do what is right.” Thank you, Lord.

So okay, I concede, God probably has reasons for putting a love of fire into men. Protecting, and eating would the most obvious, but celebrating is good too, especially if you’re safe with it.

DiVoran has been writing for most of her life. Her first attempt at a story was when she was seven years old and her mother got a new typewriter. DiVoran got to use it and when her dad saw her writing he asked what she was writing about. DiVoran answered that she was writing the story of her life. Her dad’s only comment was, “Well, it’s going to be a very short story.” After most of a lifetime of writing and helping other writers, DiVoran finally launched her own dream which was to write a novel of her own. She now has her Florida Springs trilogy and her novel, a Christian Western Romance, Go West available on Amazon. When speaking about her road to publication, she gives thanks to the Lord for all the people who helped her grow and learn.  She says, “I could never have done it by myself, but when I got going everything fell beautifully into place, and I was glad I had started on my dream.”

Tags: Fireworks and men