Bang, Bang Whoosh!

      More Letters From Paradise

         Bang Bang Whoosh!
Monday will be the 4th of July here in Hawaii, just as it is throughout all of America. The past couple of years it has been much more quiet here than in the past. We used to have to endure six-foot strings of firecrackers, loud explosions, and lots of smoke. It is still legal to purchase fireworks with a permit. There is also a huge display paid for by Ala Moana Shopping Center.

Historians tell us that the Chinese first made gunpowder. The mixture is fairly simple: sulphur,potassium nitrate, and powdered charcoal. Years ago as kids, we too used to make gunpowder. The ingredients were easily purchased. The Chinese had much better results than we did. Sometime a bang, but most often  a bright sizzle, and lots of smoke.

You see, fireworks were illegal in Michigan, and so we had to do the best we could. Before discovering gunpowder, we would cut off the end of a wood kitchen match. It would put between two bolts screwed together with one single nut. When slammed on the sidewalk, there would be a bang. Very time-consuming.

One other noise maker involved using small lumps of carbide. Carbide was used in miner's lamps. A small handful of carbide would be placed in a large tin can with a removable lid, and a hole punched in the bottom. Water would be sprinkled on the carbide, the lid put on, and the can placed on the ground and held with your foot while a lighted match would be thrust through the hole. The result was that the lid blew off , making a noise. It was acetylene gas, but we didn't know it.

And then there were smugglers of fireworks from either Canada or Ohio. Or some guy would pull his car up to the curb and say "You kids want to buy some firecrackers?" Well, of course we did, twenty-five cents a package. You carefully unbraided each cracker now you really had several bangs.

Way back then there was always an ariel fireworks display at the fairgrounds. Once a year, on the 4th of July. Living here in Waikiki, we have fireworks displays every Friday night from Hilton Hawaiian Village across from our condo. The display is easily seen from our lanai. We have come to be so used to the event, we simply try to ignore the fireworks, but it is no use. Our dog, MaiTai, as soon as the first boom goes off he becomes excited and runs out to the lanai and back again, telling us "It's fireworks time!" We think that this is pretty unusual, as most dogs fear fireworks.

And so another 4th of July is soon upon us, with hotdogs, potato salad and fireworks. Let all of us remember why the 4th of July is so important.

    Aloha
    Grant