Fireworks in the Park

4th of July holds so many memories for me and I will write about some of them the next few days, but tonight I am going to tell you a little something about how we celebrated the 4th when I was a kid.   

Every year as far back as my memory serves, we went to the Prague park to watch the fireworks.  It was such a grand affair in my childhood mind, and, outside Christmas, it was the most exciting day of the year.  We’d park across the street from the park, dad and mom would guide all their little ducklings across the highway, and we’d crawl over or duck over (according to how big you were) the iron cable that surrounded the park.  I bet that cable is still there.

Once over the cable, it was like walking a mine field dodging the firecrackers that the kids were throwing at our feet or maybe we just walked into them unbeknownst.  In my minds eye, I am sure they were deliberately targeting our feet.  Times were so different then and nobody thought much about firecrackers.  They were just part of our 4^th celebrations, so we’d just watch out for them as best we could. 

Once we made our way into the center of the park, we’d locate mom’s sisters and spread our blanket next to theirs to claim our spot for the rest of the evening, hoping we got the best location to ooh and awe over the fireworks which were the highlight of the evening. 

Then…………….we kids were on our own; at least the older ones, and off we went to the carnival.  Oh yes, each year Prague had a carnival with rides of all sorts, games of chance, fun houses, and plenty of places to get food and drinks (I remember churches from the area having stands selling hot dogs, hamburgers, drinks, etc).  We’d make our way to and from the carnival all evening, from the bright lights of the carnival out to our blanket in the dark with all sorts of trinkets, sodas, and huge tales.   

I could go on and on describing this magical night, but what stands out in my memory is picking up a yellow duck that floated around the little stream and getting a prize that went with the number on the bottom, the bright yellow lights around the carnival and the food stands, and my favorite, the Ferris wheel.   

I can visualize mom and her sisters in their cotton capris and sleeveless cotton button down shirts.  For some reason their happy eyes reflecting the sparkles of the fireworks keep coming to my mind.  Oh how I would love to see their eyes sparkle again.  

I love you.