Little Sparklers......... It was a simpler time. The folks had weathered our incessant begging to buy us some fireworks, something, ANYTHING...........my Gawd, it's the 3rd of July for goodness sake, already!! But they were smart people. They'd wait until the vendors got down to selling their wares to 2 for 1, 3 for 1, before they would cut loose with those hard earned dollars. Five bucks, that was it. That's all they gave us to spend. So, let's see, a box of 'sparklers', a couple of 'chasers', a couple of ten shot roman candles, and some 'punks'........and maybe enough left over for some smoke bombs. That was it. And we would clutch that paper sack, you know, can't wait 'til the sun goes down...... The folks would hunker down on the porch, Mom constantly barking out orders to watch your fingers, No, you can't hold the roman candle while it's going off, and no burning each other with the 'punks'..... It would last all of 20 minutes...... When I got older, we would go to town to watch the fireworks show the Kiwanis club would put on, a real show, with rockets, and fountains...... And later, my high school sweetheart and I, running off from all the others, sky rockets in flight. Then, as a young man, the wife and I would go watch the big displays in the city that we had moved to. And then on to bigger cities, with more expensive celebrations, lasting perhaps hours, instead of minutes, symphonies playing, instead of cicadas, thousands of onlookers, instead of just us and the folks. Kinda made my little sparkler seem.......miniscule, and pitiful. Sitting on a blanket, wine and cheese in the picnic basket, toasting our friends with crystal glasses, the cars pulling in are worth more than the house I grew up in.....shoot, the fireworks show cost more to produce than my folks made in their life of working............and I enjoy it, but........ It's missing something........ Like the light in a child's eye on a starry July night, the sparkles from the candlestick illuminating the face of wonder......... like the folks sitting on the porch, smiling, watchful, but smiling........... The locusts singing in the background down by the creek, the stars so very bright above my head, the fireflies adding their glow to the spangles of red, white, and blue.........the way the hound howled at the sound of the 'chasers'...... The smiles and laughter of children. Five dollars bought a lot back then. The way two young folks, holding hands, look up to the lit up sky, and dream of days to come......... And a young couple finds that five dollars just doesn't buy much anymore. Coming full circle now....... Tomorrow, the nieces and nephews gather at Grammy's house........and I will be there along with Mockingbird, And we will sit on the grass and watch the little ones, "Ooooh, that's pretty!", "Don't burn your hands"......."Careful!!!"....."Leave your brother alone!!!" And I will look into the little sparkles in her eyes, and remember our previous Julys, when we were just kids ourselves, and the fireworks that consumed our hearts. The light will play in the eyes of the little ones, and laughter will fill the field, just as it did so many years ago. Little sparklers, those moments, they burn bright, hot and fast.........enjoy the light while you can, like quicksilver, they pass thru our hands too quickly. |
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"Little Sparklers........." © Wauhilau as posted in
alt.discuss.clubs.public.culture.native-american.benable
on Fri, Jul 2, 2004, 6:38pm (EDT-3)
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Thoughts on Independence Day
"Star Keeper" midi courtesy of élan michaels bead bar courtesy of Greasy Grass