Guns, Bells, Bonfires, and Illuminations

The Fourth of July is sure different as a grownup, and by that I mean old guy. Outside my window right now I can hear firecrackers exploding while my dogs bark insanely at the front door. They apparently think somebody is out there, or maybe they think the cats are having a gun fight. I don't know. All I do know is that their barking is louder than the firecrackers and I am quite irritated by it. That's the difference. I am sitting in my big fluffy chair yelling at the dogs to stop barking, while as a kid growing up in the 1950's I would have grabbed a few packs of matches from the kitchen, and been outside with all the other kids playing with the firecrackers that we had purchased legally at the dime store. Yes, back during the Dwight Eisenhower era, firecrackers were legal in most places. None of this namby-pamby, nanny state crap back then. Kids played with fire and explosives. I have to say, it was a lot of fun. Sure, you would sometimes burn your fingers on the matches, or blow off one of those fingers with a cherry bomb. But it was fun. Who the hell needs two eyes. And speaking of eyes, it was always fun to watch one of your friends stick a lady finger in his sister's doll and watch the eyes blow out. But now I'm an adult and I am sitting here fuming at my neighbors who got their hands on some really amazing fireworks. I just wish it would all stop. It's dangerous, it's illegal, and it really gets the dogs upset. Besides, they have their kids out there and somebody could get hurt.