When I was 15 we went to the Moon

I can't let today's 40th anniversary of Apollo 11, the first manned landing on the Moon, slip by without at least a brief comment here on The Porch. Just before I logged on to my blog, I visited James Lileks' The Bleat. I thought there was a good chance that he would have mentioned the anniversary, and I was right. I left my comment about what I remember about that day, and instead of re-typing all of that, here's the link.

(Mike, Dolores, Trish, and Dave, I mentioned how your dad restored the electricity to Poppy's farm in time, so we were able to watch the broadcast - scroll down to the fourth comment - and you may have to click on "prev." or page 1 first.)


What a proud moment.

After America made it to the moon, the ability to do so became a catch phrase, as in, "Well if we can land a man on the moon, why can't we _____" (fill in the blank with whatever we ought to get done). Some years passed, the Apollo program came to a close, Skylab and the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project came and went, and even with the (then) upcoming Shuttle flights, we wouldn't send a man out of Earth orbit again. Then I heard the saying this way, "Well if we can land a man on the moon, why can't we land a man on the moon now?" Earlier today I read an article on space.com which addresses that.

As worthwhile as the Shuttle program has been, and as impressive as the International Space Station is, I sure hope I live long enough to see someone either return to the Moon, or attempt a voyage to Mars or to one of the close approach asteroids. I hate to think we've been ripped off, but sometimes it sure seems that way.

Independence Day celebrations, part 3

Okay, near the end of my last installment I kind of left you hanging...

"So after I got everyone home, I drove back out there and purchased a handful of bargains. More about that tomorrow."

Well, I've been busy and much has happened since. But I feel I ought to finish my report, so here goes.

Sunday, July 5th: I still had most of my fireworks, and since it was still legal, the weather forecast was reasonable, and I had no pressing plans we went to the backyard to celebrate again.

Fireworks...check! We're ready.

During the day we sent up a daytime parachute, and used up more of the smoke bombs...






...and lit a few snakes and glow worms.



(Family members plus a cousin of a neighbor girl)

That evening out came the sparklers, a few more roman candles, and some ground bloom flowers. At the risk of repeating myself, I'm not sure If I mentioned that I'd bought a couple of pinwheels at the tent near Lake Tapawingo. Before it got dark, I hauled an old wooden stepladder out of the shed, and nailed one of the pinwheels to it. Absolutely beautiful...so good to see a pinwheel again.

We finished off the cones, and fired a nighttime parachute (or "Coloured Aviation Lamp" as it said on the label). We lit the fountains in mixed order, some of the small inexpensive ones along with the slightly bigger - and better - Black Cat fountains from the "Ammo Clip Six Shooter" package.


These Ammo Clip fountains were one of the pleasant surprises of the night. A little more expensive, but not like the really big stuff. Anyway they're worth every penny. Each one is a different color, they have names like "Red Star Crackling Flower" and "Gold & Silver Crackle Green Star". They last longer than the tiny fountains and are a real quality item.

The other pleasant surprise were the extra long "Neon" sparklers, made in Japan actually. They are each dyed a different bright color in the package, which is kind of misleading...I couldn't tell any difference when they were lit (a mix of silver and gold sparks). But they were bright and lasted longer than the regular sparklers.

About the only disappointments of the day were earlier when we tried "Colored Snakes" (from an assortment package of Black Snakes, Colored Snakes, and Glow Worms). When you took the colored snake pellets out of the box, some would have a kind of green cast, some a red cast. But when lit, we couldn't tell any difference between them and the black snakes.

Also, some of the newer Ground Bloom Flowers left something to be desired. Still a good firework, but the old ones lasted longer. Still...no duds, and no injuries. A fun time was had by all, but after a while the back yard got real smokey (no wind to stir the air).

So we had some fireworks left over to put in the ammo box and store for next year.

But you probably already guessed that.

Independence Day celebrations, parts 1 & 2

I love this holiday, always have.

So far this year though it's been more preparation than activity, pyrotechnics wise, that is.

Yesterday we chose a tent to shop at, and my wife and two youngest children and I found some favorites and kept within a reasonable budget. (That tent sold Black Cat brand almost exclusively, which are quality...but I noticed their stock leaned heavily toward the bigger, more expensive items.)

The third of July being my sweet wife's birthday, she called the shots as to what we did. Right after buying the works, we walked across the parking lot to our local supermarket (HyVee), and bought a French silk chocolate pie. Not long after we got home, daughter number two arrived from work, so there were five of us for supper and pie.

After that, a trip to our backyard to shoot just a few fireworks: five ground bloom flowers, a few snakes and glow worms, some sparklers, a couple of those "chickens laying fiery eggs", a smoke bomb, a small pack of firecrackers, a cone (Solar Flare), and a couple of 8 to 10 year old (I guess) Roman candles I'd taken out of an ammo box. The flaming balls didn't gain great altitude - maybe 18 feet - but other than that they worked fine. In fact, the Roman Candles (Horse Brand) were marked as 8 shot, but they actually gave 10 and 11 shots respectively. Bonus!



For many years I've dreamed of running a fireworks tent...

Saturday, July 4 - much of today was spent getting things done around the house, and preparing for a get together and cookout at a friend's house in Blue Springs. My wife made a flag cake (Jello cake with blueberries, and with strawberries for the stripes on the flag). We took that to the party, along with our fireworks. After the cookout and dessert, we all walked to the neighborhood fishing pond, and watched while a few people made the attempt. Some time went by and eventually two fish were caught almost simultaneously, on opposite sides of the pond. My son, daughter number three and I walked over to look at one of the fish.

It said, "Hey, I'm unhappy" (Okay, I said it for the fish). Happy ending, the rules were catch-and-release, so back into his element he went. It had been a really pleasant afternoon / evening, with occasional refreshing downdrafts from cumulonimbus clouds moving through. But about then the cold front moved in, and got much cooler quickly. None of us were prepared for that, and daughter number three got chilled enough to be uncomfortable. So we left early for home, and on the way saw lots of fireworks...a few big ones in the distance, and many smaller fireworks in backyards.

Near the turnoff for Lake Tapawingo, we noticed a tent with a sign "6 For 1 or Half Off". My wife was amazed that I passed that by and said so.

So after I got everyone home, I drove back out there and purchased a handful of bargains. More about that tomorrow.

Oh, by the way Mike, I remember your sister telling that story about when she realized the old Dr. Pepper logo "10, 2 and 4" lined up with your ages at the time.

Light 'em if you got 'em

The time is nigh for the High Holy Days at Bob's house, for it is the time of fireworks in our land. Whether it is model rockets (another passion), or fireworks, Bob is more than a little pleased when there are propellants to ignite.

You may wish to keep him out of your garage, should he come to visit.

And we are pleased to rejoice with him over his hometown's decision to allow fireworks this year and, yes, Bob, you should by all means join in when you can, as if you need my encouragement.

I, for one, while I enjoy the fireworks, prefer not to trouble myself with them. When all is said and done, I get too sweaty and too gobbled by mosquitoes to enjoy myself. We will, though, haul our lawn chairs across the street and watch the display put on by a large church in the area. After I lather myself with bug repellent.

Speaking of summertime activities, I, for some reason, was remembering an episode from my childhood today. This would have been the summer of 1963 and my older sister and my younger sister and I were enjoying some Dr. Pepper. And you recall Dr. Pepper's logo of those days, with the 10, 2, and 4, which suggested a clock face and the times of the day to drink Dr. Pepper. Well my older sister pointed out that the numbers also coincided with our respective ages at the time.

We thought that was neat in '63. I still do.

YES!!!

"This year for the first time, the purchase and discharge of consumer grade fireworks will be permitted this July 4th holiday within the city limits of Independence."

Click here to link to the entire article.

This year on the fourth, I'll be celebrating with friends in Blue Springs, where fireworks have been legal for years. But I just might set off a few in my own back yard on the third and / or the fifth.

Legally!

Thank you, Independence!

Oh yeah?

Well, two can play at that game.

No reason

Just because I can.