Ah! Memories of the Fourth of July! My friend Lola who runs Lola's Diner has encouraged all of her customers to blog about their favorite Independence Day memories in the "If I Could Blog Back Time Thursday" tradition. Okay, Lola! Here are some of mine.
I justify this personal retrospection because, as I mentioned in a recent post, many Communication scholars consider remembering (daydreaming, thinking, deciding, etc.) just one more facet of communication that they call "intrapersonal" (or within the person) communication. So, let me communicate with myself.
From my childhood, I certainly remember family get-togethers with lots of cousins and games and great food. Living in Nebraska before any of today's fireworks' regulations, we always shot off dozens of firecrackers in our backyard. I remember how my Mom would set up a big bucket of water on the porch so the kids could drop their sparklers in it when the fire got too close to their fingers. Oh, yes, there were always lots of warnings about not burning ourselves or getting too close to something that was about the explode, but somehow, we all managed to survive our hands-on fireworks.
Even 
though we had some monstrously large and elaborate fireworks at our house (probably because back then neighbors were trying to outdo each other with the size and number of their explosions), my favorite firecracker as a child remains the snake. Do any of you remember the snake? These were small cylindrical charcoal pellets that came in a box. You placed one on a cement surface (our driveway), set it on fire with a match, and watched as a curling, fire-breathing, ash-filled "snake" curled skyward. It was magic! And scary!
though we had some monstrously large and elaborate fireworks at our house (probably because back then neighbors were trying to outdo each other with the size and number of their explosions), my favorite firecracker as a child remains the snake. Do any of you remember the snake? These were small cylindrical charcoal pellets that came in a box. You placed one on a cement surface (our driveway), set it on fire with a match, and watched as a curling, fire-breathing, ash-filled "snake" curled skyward. It was magic! And scary! The best part of snakes was that we kids got to light them ourselves with no parental interference or supervision. I must have been twelve or so. My mother evidently entrusted me with a box of matches and a box of snakes. I would go outside on the morning of the Fourth (usually with my little brother Ken tagging along behind) and light these snakes all over the driveway. Nowadays, I cannot imagine a parent allowing a twelve-year old child to even hold a box of matches, let alone light them alone. Times were different then.
Does anyone else remember snakes? Or were they only available in Nebraska?
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16 comments:
Great post! Thanks for participating.
We had snakes growing up in Wisconsin too, but my sister and I never had them. The neighbor kids did. Snakes and smoke bombs. My Dad used to light off M-80 firecrackers and scare the bejesus out of us. He also used to take a 18 inch piece of galvanized pipe, stick it in the ground and use it to launch bottle rockets in our backyard. (Much to the dismay of my Mom who feared disturbing the neighbors.)
I loved those snaky things! But I got in a lot of trouble for lighting them in my bedroom!
I've never seen those before
Daisy's "mom" here:
That's so funny, because we were just talking about snakes last night. When we were kids, we would get a "family pack" assortment of fireworks, and the assortment always included a box of snakes. We were always so eager to start the fireworks, so our mom would let us do the snakes in the afternoon. They were cool!
If you like snakes - check out this video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGZjOWzr46Y
The guy makes a portrait of Kim Jung Il (how the hell do you spell his name anyway - forgive me if I did it wrong) out of those snakes and then sets it on fire it. All politics aside its interesting to see.
Oh, I do remember having snakes while growing up in Arkansas. It was the one thing we, as young kids, were allowed to light on our own.
Snakes certainly are memorable. The best part of the 4th of July is just being around family. Many times we all lead our on lives but its great to get together and have a great time.
I used to love those snakes, and you just made me smile from the memory!
We live in Massachusetts and they had them here too!
Thanks for reminding me!
Kat :)
We had firework snakes when I was growing up in Texas, too. Now, I see snakes in the House and Senate. I miss fireworks.
It all sounds very familiar except I was in New Hampshire with my cousins. And actually, we'd usually have gone over to my grandmother's camp at Wells Beach, Maine to watch the fireworks there.
No "snakes" though...
I grew up in Massachusetts and we had snakes when I was growing up. A few years ago, I found some, somewhere, I forget where. My guess is that it was at a fireworks store in Ohio. So, I think if you search around you can still find them.
Yep, I remember them. In fact we did some this weekend.
Kelly
Hi Patricia,
Here in the Philippines, we've got lots of fireworks too during the Christmas, New year seasons, and yes during Independence day (June 4).
We used to celebrate July 4 as our independence day, but eventually our lawmakers argued that it was yours and not ours, so we adapted July 4 as Fil-American Friendship day instead.
We have the "snake" here too , we call it "sawa"(snake) or the "Judas belt" . I'm scared of explosions so I discouraged the kids to buy them.
Now that they're adults though, I now stay indoors while they enjoy their fireworks. lol..
All the best.
I aplogize to your readers, that should be June 12. Our Independence day is June 12.
Thanks.
hm.. don't know about snake firecrackers.. here in Singapore, firecrackers are banned. So i haven't played with any before =S
I haven't lived in the US for very long so I haven't seen the snake up close and personal. But I have seen it on youtube so I want to try. Fireworks are illegal in my state. =(
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