Boise, ID

The wife and I weren’t exactly sure what to do about Fourth of July Fireworks. Should we go to Melba, where we had watched the parade earlier in the day, or head on over to Ann Morrison Park that was closer to the house in Boise, or just stay home. As with the parade, we opted for Melba again. We just like that good ol’ small town feel of the area and the people in it.

Since we don’t have the kids or grandkids around anymore, their wasn’t much sense in spending the day at Melba doing kid things after the parade-so we came back to Boise. Knowing the show would start at 10:30PM, we decided to leave home around 7:30PM so we could set up our lawn chairs near our usual spot on the Melba School field.

Arriving at 8:15PM, we found some parking along a street, I think is named Southside. We like the area, because it is just South of town and we can park our van for a quick and easy escape after the show.

We packed up our gear and walked the several blocks to the field. Like earlier years the place was packed. During the parade earlier in the day, I had mentioned to the wife that there was not the usual crowds. But for the fireworks show, their seemed to be more than normal.

Our usual spot near the center of the field was packed, but we did manage to squeeze between several families. My wife sat back and watched the goings on, while I reviewed camera angles, checked settings and set up my cameras. (Digital Still & Video).

For the next several hours, we watched kids get in and out of some kind of carnival ride. I don’t know what they call the thing, but they sit inside and it spins around like a giant squirrel cage. It was fun to watch the kids scream and holler at the top of their lungs, as it spun faster and faster.

Another experience is listening to music before the fireworks start. A live band was located on one side and C&W played from loudspeakers on the opposite end. All in all it was pleasant experience to just sit back and relax with my wife.

A loudspeaker announced that the show would start in five minutes. It gave me just enough time, to make final adjustments to my tripods and switch on cameras, then it started.

The adjoining music with the show, is the standard fair which we have heard a million times. But somehow, one still gets chills, when they hear the National Anthem, The Star Spangled Banner and music by Lee Greenwood and others.

Although some people don’t give a hoot about the Red, White and Blue, old timers like myself and most if not all people who live in small towns are patriotic to the core. It always warms my soul to see some old geezer place his hat over his heart when they play the Anthem or other patriotic song.

The whole show was a huge success. There were lots of cheering and clapping, especially when playing the National Patriotic theme songs which are familiar. Perhaps the biggest round of applause was when they played Jerry Lee Lewis’s-”Great Balls of Fire.” Every time the words “Great Balls of Fire,” were heard, a gigantic red ball of fire arose from the ground, which expanded into the chill night air like one of those atomic bomb blasts you see on TV.

The show ended with God Bless America. The whole sky exploded in a cacophony of color with loud pops and booms. Afterwards, a loud cheer went up from the crowd and lots of clapping. It was another terrific Fourth of July, but we did miss the grandkids.