UP IN SMOKE!

Last week as Janene headed out of town with Heather, I decided to go over to Dad & Mom's and finish the railroad tie project Joseph and I started the week before. I filled the truck with sand and stone and drove the few blocks to my parents' home. (I wonder how many Americans can say that. If it wasn't for the load of sand, I could have walked). On the way there, I noticed that people were setting up lawn chairs at St. Olaf's. Wow! it must be the night for the fireworks! I remembered how much fun we had last year at the parade and at Handcart Days. We ended up meeting the whole family down there in an unplanned reunion and then going up to the fireworks display. And this year, here I was all alone. I called up Shon to see if he was going to the fireworks and found out HE WAS IN THE PARADE. I found out that he was pulling a float and was helping our good friends, The Smith Family, who were pulling a handcart in the parade.

 Here is a picture I stole from Shon & Mel's blog that shows how the jeep - and kids, were decorated for the parade. Pretty cool if you ask me.

 

I arranged to meet his family at his favorite fireworks spot. Shon really knows where the best spot is to see the fireworks. We were right at the base of the hill where they are launched. There was hardly anyone there. I got to have a great time with Shon, Mel, Isabel, Max and Jake laying (or is it "lying") in the grass telling stories about good times. Shon said he thought that they had spent $20,000 on the fireworks, but at 10:25 PM with the show still going strong, I looked at him and said "They have spent a lot more than $20,000 on this". I found out from someone else that they spent at least $120,000. That much money going up  in smoke was a staggering thought. I thought about all the people who are unemployed and those that come down to the Food Pantry. That much money could train a lot of people to work at new jobs. If I ran the world, that much money would not be allowed to go up in smoke, but then - Would I have called up my number one son and said "Can we just hang out for the next few hours?" On second thought, it was worth every penny.