Surprisingly, (knock on wood) we’ve had nothing in the neighborhood so far. I heard a distant pop earlier. Maybe people grew a brain cell and realized they could set this whole place up in flames.
The smell of gunpowder (or whatever it is) is so strong it’s making me sick.
I endorse this necessary act of civil disobedience.
We’re getting more noise and more stink but nothing close enough that it could land on our roof. So far. It’s only 7:30 here.
Vandal! That’s not very nice.
My dog loves fireworks, I have no idea why. He stands at the living room window with us and watches when the park across the street has its display. Tail slowly wagging, nary a wimper.
Not just the smell of cordite, but the next day driving through the neighborhood and seeing all the crap on the street that nobody bothered to clean up after themselves.
I used to petsit a border collie who was afraid of all sorts of noises. The wind was blowing hard one time, making noises in the chimney that I could barely hear but sent her cowering in fear. Sometimes sounds from the industrial area a couple of miles away would carry far enough for her to hear. If we were outside, she’d head for the doggy door into the garage and hide behind whatever she could. Then I’d have to coax her out and get her into the house.
Her owners moved here from the East Coast. I suspect they didn’t realize that just across the bay from the house they chose was the major Fourth of July fireworks display for our city. Plus the social club down on the Point always spent umpteen thousand dollars on fireworks which they keep going before the major display, all through it, and for quite some time after. I never had to watch that dog during this time of year but always hoped her humans kept the poor thing well sedated.
They moved back east again a couple of years ago, I hope to a quieter spot for that dog’s sake, but I’ll never be able to hear fireworks now without thinking of her.
He is seriously being crazy dog. Today we went on a long walk–and throughout the walk popping sounds could be heard at a distance, but he was okay. Then, half a block from home, he freaked out, and turned around and headed the other way, with his tail down. His tail is usually up and wagging jauntily.
At that point there were no firework noises that I could hear, but he is a dog and has big ears. Bigggg ears. However, we had been hearing pops and he had been fine. He was running circles around me in a skulk position. I had to drag him.
The funny thing is that he goes for frequent walks in a dog training area where people are specifically training gun dogs, and sometimes there are gun noises. There is also a range nearby, and we can almost always hear that. I don’t know how close we are, but we can hear it. Does not faze him.
He is now hiding under the dresser which was his place when he was a puppy. The thing is he no longer fits. He’s got his head and shoulders under and the rest hanging out. I feel bad about laughing at him but, uh, I’m laughing at him, while feeling very sympathetic.
My neighbor gave it up about 1.00am. There were some from farther off. We will probably still get fireworks at night until everyone runs out
I have PTSD and no dogs and I hate the Fourth so much. I don’t mind fireworks that much if I can see them (and anticipate the noise) but when I’m trying to relax and hear random loud bangs I freak the fuck out.
I even went to fireworks last night but was far enough away I couldn’t hear them and it was fantastic. But one little boom in my neighborhood and my heart is racing. Normally I close up the windows and turn on the ac to muffle the noise, but it’s been very cool this summer and I would have gotten hypothermia, I think.
Plus it wasn’t just fireworks last night. It’s been several nights. They’re illegal in my state and it doesn’t help too that my town doesn’t have any kind of celebration, so every neighborhood nitwit has their own.
The neighbors are at it again, and the dogs ain’t happy, and I’m not too thrilled myself. Last night wasn’t too, too bad, because they were making things explode in the field in front of their own house - a quarter- or third-mile down the road. Tonight, however, the kids have firecrackers, and they’re in the field/woods right next to my house. Not cool.
Strictly speaking the holiday is called “Independence Day.”
Either way I’m with you - actually, I have no problem with Independence Day. It’s the behavior of some people on (and near) Independence Day that drives me wacko. Just as with you. I do not own any firearms, however, so my wife, my pugs, and I, just have to cope as best we can with all the inconsiderate people in our neighborhood who choose to turn Independence Day into their own personal fireworks display opportunity.
I just don’t get the hate. I hope this isn’t considered a thread shit for being positive about something (can you crap on a hater thread?)
I love the 4th. I started the day by going to a local parade and watched some WWII vets get applauded for their service, along with a bunch of kids and families having a good time. We then went and listened to good music and ate some great but maybe not quite so healthy food. Ran into some people we don’t see very often, and then came back and drank a beer or two while watching the fireworks display. We then went home and blew a few things up while having another beer.
Yes, we are dog owners, and we were even dog sitting for the neighbor. One of ours couldn’t care less… the other isn’t sure what to do and just acts confused. The neighbor dog is a bit more worried, but as long as she is allowed to get on the parents bed and curl up she is fine.
We’ve lit off fireworks for over 20 years here and nobody has ever complained… most come out and join in the fun.
I’ve always liked the fireworks but this year they really wore on me. Someone just a block and a half away had dozens of HUGE suckers that spanned a block when in full bloom. They set them off in a neighborhood full of century-old houses that I’m certain are exempt from modern fire suppression systems. And there were a few other people with slightly-smaller-but-obviously-still-illegal-in-our-city fireworks as well. Fortunately, no fires got started.
To top it off, our local Indian tribe has some land down in the industrial area where they sell their fireworks. They have thoughtfully set aside some of that land for folks to set off the ones they bought. The advantages are twofold. They’re far from any homes that could catch fire (though near plenty of businesses that may have hazardous chemicals.) And since they’re still on reservation land, they can’t get arrested by the local cops.
The disadvantage is that those of us who live on the surrounding hillsides have had to listen to all those fireworks being set off for the past two weeks or more. On the Fourth it was a continuous barrage from the time the sun started to go down until well after 2AM. Yesterday, the fifth!, they decided to call it quits a bit past 1. Hopefully that will be it for this year.
By next year, maybe I’ll be ready to enjoy them again.
Maybe it is because fireworks here are legal, but regulated. between June 29 and July 9 you can legally set them off between 5 pm and midnight. There were a few on Thursday and Friday, a bunch on Saturday, some on Sunday (mostly right after the women’s world cup win) and I don’t really expect any tonight or later. We have had tons of rain lately so fires aren’t an issue.