What is your favorite holiday? Why is it your favorite?

For myself, I would say Independence Day (America) is my favorite holiday.

While I rarely partake the cup of patriotism, I’d happily blow something up if given half the chance.

My mother and I would sometimes buy fireworks from the TNT stand but I recall a few years when we went to the reservation to purchase our fireworks. They always had the best ones.

During the summers I would often hang out with my best friend, Cedar. We would play in the woods, the fields, and most often on the beaches.

I quite like the little tanks that roll around. I also liked the battleships you could put in the water and they would propel themselves a short distance.

The day after the 4th, you would often find unspent fireworks half buried in the sand dunes. Bottle-rockets were a favorite of mine. I especially like the ones that whistled as they went up.

The sounds and the sparkle were entirely captivating.

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I think the allure of fireworks lies in the environment of my upbringing. The violent explosions of bombs were so far removed that they became something of a fantasy or fiction.

My parents weren’t interested in guns or the military. Their own parents had served honorably, but it was not something my parents ever aspired to themselves.

I recall a neighbor in the “Old Funky Boat Yard” had a miniature hand cannon salvaged from a tall ship. I remember one cloudy day he took it out of case and carefully loaded the ball and gunpowder. It was incredibly loud when he discharged a shot out towards the old rail trestle.

It was absolutely marvelous!

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While I was in the Boy Scouts I had narrowly missed an opportunity to shoot at a rifle range. The instructor had finished for the day and we were left to mess about with archery instead.

The first, and likely last, time handling a gun was at the National Guard base near Astoria, Oregon.

While attending the Tongue Point Job Corps Center I had the opportunity to try my hand at a sort of virtual firing range that was built into the interior of a vehicle. My memory is a bit spotty, but I think it was a semi truck?

The rifle was real, so we had to be instructed on how it worked and received some basic shooting instructions. I enjoyed the experience but I had some difficulties sighting with my glasses.

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Nowadays, I have returned to simply watching explosions from a comfy seat. I don’t care much for live action violence. I mostly stick to Sentai Squad and Mecha anime when I am in the mood for it.