Pyro

Genetic, learned or an illness?

Not sure, really. When I was young my Mother would come home from Hardware shows with a trunk load of sparklers, firecrackers, roman candles, and bottle rockets. My Father had a hand torch that we used to light the stuff. We had family up on the hill in Allen who let us come up there and blow up our stash. The paper and casings would make a total mess, and they never complained. They seemed to enjoy the hours of lighting, running and screaming. I don't even remember my parents being overly protective of us while we were lighting the fireworks. Then again I soloed an airplane at the age of 16 and they weren't nervous or worried about it. That confidence is what has made me the confident person that I am.

At 40 years old I still love fireworks. My taste has changed a bit, I enjoy the big Cakes(multiple shells in a pattern). They can range from 10 dollars to hundreds of dollars for the larger cakes. A few weeks before Independence Day the stands start selling fireworks. Fortunately, I live just minutes away from one of the best fireworks stores in our area. They built this huge building and they are only open 4 weeks a year. The owner told us that they made enough money in one season to pay for the building. Obviously, it is big business.

This year we went in as a group and bought 700.00 worth of stuff and it was a great show. We had the big party Saturday which happened to be the third. On Sunday night (July 4th) I was flying and watched fireworks from Salt Lake City to Portland from 32,000 feet. We landed in Portland around 10:15pm and the fireworks were going off all around. There was a big show going off at the military base at the end of the runway. I found that to be very distracting as I was making the landing. When I was out doing the postflight the smell of fireworks was everywhere. It was a memorable trip.

Genetic, learned or an illness?