Happy 4th of July!

Here in Boston we had our fireworks last night.

With Hurricane Arthur barreling up the coast, the organizers of The Boston Pops 4th of July Celebration decided to move the show to July 3rd. My daughter had friends over and they watched some of it on TV. When it was time for the fireworks they even let me hang out with them. As long as I was quiet!

Due to a different storm closing in on Boston at 50mph, they cancelled the 1812 Overture and moved the fireworks display up by about an hour. This was around 9:30PM, so I think they moved it less than the news casters thought. When they announced that the 1812 Overture was being cancelled, the crowd actually booed! The announcer joked, “quiet down kids or do I have to pull this party over to the side of the road?” Who hasn’t heard Dad say that at least a 100 times during childhood trips?

The display went on for what seemed like an hour. We could hear it from our house but could only see it on TV. While the display was going off, we were also seeing lightning in our area. After the fireworks ended we went out onto the deck to watch the lightning. The kids had a good time taking pictures and being kids. The lightening was spectacular.

This photo shows how difficult it is to get a photo of lightning. By the time you press the button, the sky has gone dark again.

As we watched we could feel the wind, which meant the front was headed our way. As the lighting drew closer the wind picked up. Then all of a sudden the skies opened up. We all ran inside and looked at the rain blowing sideways. The people in Boston made a good decision. If they had waited, the fireworks may have been cancelled and people certainly would have been caught out in the open. It turned out that the crowd had about a 20 minute window to get off of the Esplanade.

The rain came down so fast that our drain over flowed and we got some water in the garage. While the lightning was firing away like a Blitzkrieg, I was running around the driveway setting up our sump pump. I was getting pelted by the rain and the thunder and lightning were intense. I was a little worried about taking a hit or getting electrocuted while standing in the water connecting hoses.

The rain ended as abruptly as it began after about 20 minutes of intensity. The kids went home and I watched the lightning show out the back door of our house. Between the fireworks and the lightening, it was a spectacular show.

Happy 4th of July everyone!

Andy