Crackdown
Crackdown
In the run-up to this fourth of July, there were articles in the local daily and a fair amount of discussion about fireworks. Word was that the local constabulary were poised for a crackdown. Judgin
In the run-up to this fourth of July, there were articles in the local daily and a fair amount of discussion about fireworks. Word was that the local constabulary were poised for a crackdown. Judging by events in my neighborhood, Happy Valley, if you crack down on those fireworks hard enough, they explode!
During the early afternoon of the fourth, I had to drive my step nephew out to the Lummi Island ferry. Taking the freeway to Slater and hence to Haxton Way takes one past "Boom City", a seasonal tribute to the idea that the fourth ought to look and sound like a military conflagration. To be honest, I've never understood the interest First Nations have in celebrating our independence, but their enterprise certainly had attracted a veritable throng of ardent fourth of July revelers. Their fervor is probably not all that mysterious: Ka-boom! Ka-ching! I was in a hurry and couldn't stop, but the scene looked to me like a candidate for a photo essay.
Later that evening, I attended the festivities at the Bellingham Bay Community Boating Center, where they were having a little get-together and fundraiser with a modest view of the municipal fireworks display. As the display over Bellingham Bay ended, the nearby parking lots and the entire fringe of the bay exploded in a frenzy of swooshing sparks, crackling, whistling and concussive reports. It rivaled the expensive public display and, who knows, might have cost as much or more!
Even later, back at home, the neighborhood sounded a bit like newscasts from Kosovo or Iraq, or maybe a celebration of some fatwa in Beirut. I felt badly for the birds cowering in their bowers, and the house pets quivering involuntarily in fright and confusion. For some reason, the noise doesn't particularly bother me, but I am always very happy when it rains the day before the fourth.
As for the crackdown, it didn't seem to have the effect suggested by the earlier bulletins in the paper. To be honest, I don't fault the cops for not imposing draconian restrictions and hauling three quarters of the town off to jail. How would you like to be saddled with the task of interdicting crowds of weekend warrior pyro-technicians with the idea that they can no longer celebrate our independence with "the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air"?
Incidentally, prior to the fourth there were a couple house and range fires reported. I didn't notice any great flood of new reports following all the dangerous activity on the fourth. It made me wonder if the laws restricting fireworks are very sensible. Should fireworks be strictly banned, or should there be performance standards, like keeping charged hoses present, or being some number of feet from combustible materials? Of course, as long as citizens still feel free enough to celebrate their independence, none of that will ever work completely. But what is the better approach, prohibition or regulation?
During the early afternoon of the fourth, I had to drive my step nephew out to the Lummi Island ferry. Taking the freeway to Slater and hence to Haxton Way takes one past "Boom City", a seasonal tribute to the idea that the fourth ought to look and sound like a military conflagration. To be honest, I've never understood the interest First Nations have in celebrating our independence, but their enterprise certainly had attracted a veritable throng of ardent fourth of July revelers. Their fervor is probably not all that mysterious: Ka-boom! Ka-ching! I was in a hurry and couldn't stop, but the scene looked to me like a candidate for a photo essay.
Later that evening, I attended the festivities at the Bellingham Bay Community Boating Center, where they were having a little get-together and fundraiser with a modest view of the municipal fireworks display. As the display over Bellingham Bay ended, the nearby parking lots and the entire fringe of the bay exploded in a frenzy of swooshing sparks, crackling, whistling and concussive reports. It rivaled the expensive public display and, who knows, might have cost as much or more!
Even later, back at home, the neighborhood sounded a bit like newscasts from Kosovo or Iraq, or maybe a celebration of some fatwa in Beirut. I felt badly for the birds cowering in their bowers, and the house pets quivering involuntarily in fright and confusion. For some reason, the noise doesn't particularly bother me, but I am always very happy when it rains the day before the fourth.
As for the crackdown, it didn't seem to have the effect suggested by the earlier bulletins in the paper. To be honest, I don't fault the cops for not imposing draconian restrictions and hauling three quarters of the town off to jail. How would you like to be saddled with the task of interdicting crowds of weekend warrior pyro-technicians with the idea that they can no longer celebrate our independence with "the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air"?
Incidentally, prior to the fourth there were a couple house and range fires reported. I didn't notice any great flood of new reports following all the dangerous activity on the fourth. It made me wonder if the laws restricting fireworks are very sensible. Should fireworks be strictly banned, or should there be performance standards, like keeping charged hoses present, or being some number of feet from combustible materials? Of course, as long as citizens still feel free enough to celebrate their independence, none of that will ever work completely. But what is the better approach, prohibition or regulation?
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