Fourth of July Doings

 How did we celebrate the Fourth of July?

Picnics and parades, family and fireworks. 

Childish delight at the city park,
laying on a blanket. 

As we grew older the delight was in our own explosives! 

Playing at home. Spinners hung from the trees.
Sparklers running around the yard. 

And strings of firecrackers going off.
Or set under a tuna fish can to see it pop up! 

And The Old Farmer's inner child would come out. M-80s were played with by the adult men in the family,
the children could watch.
The Old Farmer decided to see what would happen if he put one in the old metal paper box. 

POW! It blew it go smithereens. The back blew out and the seam split open. Oops!

And not to be outdone by the adults the cousins spent the afternoon throwing
the little firecrackers into a hollow in the tree. Several made a sucessful landing. 

Later that evening smoke was seen coming from this majestic old maple tree!
Hoses were brought and the water followed where the firecrackers had been.
 In the hollow and down the inside of the tree.
The tree survived this trauma and to my best guess is still living today.