[Sca-cooks] (OT) Fun with incendiary devices . . .

[Ruth Frey]

> > Good to hear you can legally pursue what Jean Shepherd used to call the
> > Essential Thundering Report. The fascisti in the local government have
> > pretty well eliminated all but the large, highly controlled, allegedly
> > public fireworks displays, but none of us felt like dealing with the
> > heat, the noise, and the crowd.

	For my 2 cents' worth, I just got back from
visiting my family in southern Oregon over the 4th of
July, and I have to say that as much as I love
shooting off fireworks myself, I can understand why
so many of them are illegal anymore.  There are just
too many idiots out there, and if you're someplace
like southern OR that dries to a tinder-crackly
crunch in July, the fire danger is just too
great.  As it is, some yahoo set all the grass
along the freeway ablaze with his illegal fireworks,
and I've seen a lot of forest fires and such get started
in the area the same way.  My hometown (and everyplace else
I've lived) usually puts on a decent "pro" show, and I'm
happy with a few firecrackers or ground-bloom flowers
or sparklers for mayself (all carefully set alight in the
driveway).
	I think the US needs to get more into
the tradition of fireworks at New Year's, when
everything is either soaked with rain or frozen
solid (depending on where you are).  Terrible
idea having the incendiaries traditionally set
off in the summer . . . *sigh!*

		-- Ruth