QST de N7GMT

Well, we all survived the weekend. It was promising to be rather complicated — not to mention that date night (Thai with my Sweetie) was in jeopardy!

As it turned out, most everything settled down and I got to go help with the fireworks for Fiesta Days down in Spanish Fork. These folks really know how to do fireworks. When many of the cities are cutting back or eliminating fireworks for their city celebrations due to the economic upheaval the country is suffering through, Spanish Fork still put on a grand display.

I got three of the older kids to join me. (The Bookworm had her nose buried in a book and would not be displaced, IIRC.) The Gamer met up with the son of one of the other SCATeam members, who had been over to play GURPS (yes, we still need to get back to that; sorry boys); Cheezer snuggled down into the blanket she’d brough; the Entomologist alternated between the two, and finally got Cheezer to have scooter races with him, using borrowed scooters.

The assignment was pretty easy this year. Lots of telling folks why they couldn’t allow their kids to play on the swings and slides (”Sorry folks, the playground is inside the drop-zone.”); that the fireworks would only stop for high wind, not for rain; and that the official start time for the fireworks is “when the rodeo is over” — which was scheduled to be finished at ten, but always runs over a little.

The cool thing about working the fireworks is that you’re right there! The shells and larger mortars were exploding just a little to the west but almost straight up. Really fun to watch, that close up. They had some very neat mortars this year, and some shells I hadn’t seen before. My favorites were the ones that made little purple bursts right at the end … at least I think they were purple bursts; the purple could have been after-image on the back of my retinas, I guess.

The finale was quite surprising. I mean, one expects a finale, and one expects lots of fireworks, but the number of things going on in the air all at once started pushing the bounds of sensory overload! I couldn’t believe how much fire was in the sky; it felt like they shot off a full third of their total fireworks in the last twenty seconds or so. (I’m sure it was a lot less of the total load, but when there’s that much stuff in the air …)

Consensus from the kids? Great!

I’m glad they came along; it was fun to have them there with me, even if they did have a long wait before the official show.

OK, this blog has been too long neglected. Those responsible have been sacked, and henceforth the blog will be maintained by llamas.

That said, I had a fun weekend with the SCATeam and ARES out helping with the Pony Express Days concert and fireworks in Eagle Mountain. They held a Tribute to our Troops concert Saturday night. I was working security and traffic control so I didn’t get to hear much of the concert, but I was nigh ground-zero for the fireworks. Always fun having shells going off right over head.

The concert ran a little over … by over an hour. I’m sure those who wanted to hear the band didn’t mind, but those of us standing around waiting for the fireworks …

And it’s absolutely amazing the dumb things drivers will do, even knowing there’s herd of Sheriff’s Deputies standing around just waiting for you to do said “dumb things.” Really, folks, you are not special; you are not entitled. There were three or four cars that ignored directions from uniformed officers, skirted rows of cones and flares to drive through the fireworks drop-zone! Gives all new meaning to the term “Utahrd.” I was stationed where they were headed and the deputy I was assisting gave them a good chewing out. Satisfying.