OT/MISC The 4th at our new rural home....

Last night was interesting. We moved rural in Feburary, area is mainly ag with lots of tobacco, some with cattle and growing feed. Population is fairly sparse and apparently the 2nd amendment is alive and well.

I have never witnessed first hand combat or been close enough to combat to hear it, but for about 2 hours or so last night I got a pretty good feel for what it would be like to be nearby.

There was a large number of traditional fireworks involved, especially the whistlers. In addition, there was an almost constant sound of small arms, shotgun and rifle fire. There were several really big booms that sounded like explosives being detonated. In total, there were many thousands of rounds expended over a couple of hours time span.

The sounds were everywhere and continuous, some on our road (within several hundred yards) and others off in the distance. The sounds were coming from 360 degrees, everywhere. All dogs within earshot were throwing their 2 cents worth in. I thought about joining in, but really did not want to expend the ammo or clean the guns afterward.

GF and I sat on the front porch for awhile listening to the rural celebration. We never heard any rounds passing through the trees overhead so we felt relatively safe. At one point, in a farily heavy burst of gunfire a whistler went off on our road and GF yelled 'Incoming!'.

All in all, we enjoyed our new found celebration of the 4th and feel better about our selection of this area for our home. We are about 25 miles from a city of about 300K, a few miles off a major highway feeding the city. I have no doubts now about the firepower present nearby (which I had assumed all along) and that the locals should be capable of mounting a formidable defense (at least from a hardware point of view) if and when the need arises.

We are looking forward to the local New Years Eve celebration....

BH

Wow! Let's hope they all have the cahones to properly use that ammo when the time comes.

That sounds like my neighborhood here in Beloit last night. For about an hour I could have sat in the yard and read a book by the light of the neighborhood fireworks. The ball park is a mile one way and the city fireworks a mile the other way. The ball park finished theirs right before the city started. All along the neighborhood was blasting the little stuff and the big stuff.

This year the city residents saved most of the fireworks for the 4th. The police department worked with the fireworks stores. The last couple weeks the police have been responding to reports of fireworks going off. You see, the last few years that I've been here, the fireworks started in May and ended in late September, though they were especially heavy around the first two weeks of July. We have a Riverfest concert here soon. There were a few fires every year. This year is wetter, people seem to have been a little more careful, and I haven't read about so many fires. One year, the morning of the 5th, I found a burned up bottle rocket stuck in my front door. I'd been outside with a shovel and a few buckets of water around until about midnight on the dry years. Almost every night there are reports of gunfire, so that wasn't any different.

It's fun. Last night here was better than being at a small town fairgrounds celebration.

Rain didn't stop the fireworks last night.
In South Florida fireworks that go boom or up in the air are considered illegal.
The tents that are set up in parking lots cannot sell them, they are allowed only sparklers and smoke bombs. However, there are a few firework stores around where you can buy anything your heart and wallet will allow. All you have to do is sign a paper, saying you are using them for the correct purpose.
Not to worry the store will make sure you check the correct boxes.
Anyway with all the rain, the fireworks were still flying. For a few hours, the neighborhood was booming . The last laugh came on the 11:00 o clock weather... because of the rain and the humidity and very light wind, there was a severe smoke warning......... and they blamed it on... the fireworks.
Great Job South Florida...