Haiku 2023–185

as the fireworks end

let the real light show begin

summer thunderstorms

— —

We live in a subdivision right next to a farm whose owners really enjoy and thoroughly exercise their Second Amendment freedoms. Any major holiday involves shooting, but they outdo themselves on Fourth of July by shooting both guns and fireworks. A four-day weekend (for some of us, anyway) gives ample opportunity to do things up, so on Saturday night after sundown it sounded a bit like test day at the ammunition factory at our place. These statements kind of sound curmudgeonly, but really, I don’t mind all that much — it’s part of living in the country in our country. Let them have their fun and let freedom ring.

My fun came later.

About the time the neighbors wrapped up their display, Mother Nature decided to put on one of her own that no one could equal. I wrote about this storm in Haiku 2023–183, but it really deserves to be written about again. The continuous lightning in the sky that evening could not be equaled by shiploads of fireworks set off by thousands of people and that doesn’t begin to describe the wind’s effect on what I was seeing. It truly was a Fourth of July show for the ages.