Happy 4th of July...for those who celebrate

[shadowkat]

Watching the Macy's Day Fourth of July Celebration on Television. What's different about it this year is the fire works from the Empire State Building.

Also, they keep doing homages to the Summer Olympics which will be starting in the next few weeks.

The other big deal is the crowds are back, people are sitting outside without masks. Last year they didn't allow any in-person viewing. This year people are watching it in person.

It's quite pretty and moving really - with a full orchestra, and classical music.

The downside? I'm going to be hearing fireworks all night long, but not as loud as last year - the folks immediately around me, apparently either moved away or lost interest in setting the big ones off. So just hear distant booms.

What throws me though is the setting off of fireworks from the Empire State Building - isn't that kind of dangerous?

It only lasted 30 minutes, the rest is just music. The other televised fireworks display is a Capital Fourth.

Good news? Corona Virus deaths are way down. And we only had 69 cases in my area with a .60 percent infection rate.

Comments

[slaymesoftly]

Had a big dog in my lap for quite a while because there was a biggish display not far from here. But the worst of it is over now. Toward the other end of the county, they set off some big ones, one of which burst right over the field my horse lives in. He and his pasture mate apparently went a bit nuts, but that has quieted down too, so all is well.

We usually watch Macy's on TV, but hubby was watching a soccer game (European Championships) so we didn't see anything this year - NYC, DC, or the local one.

[shadowkat]

A lot of folks were mentioning the soccer (football) game. I'm kind of oblivious to sporting events. I don't even know who is playing in the championship.

I don't think the fireworks will be as bad this year as last year - mainly because people can travel and wander about, and are busy, they aren't stuck at home and bored. I think a lot of the folks that set them off last year - are off doing something else this year.

I DVR'd the Capital Fourth on PBS, for the music mainly and out of curiosity. The Macy's was about the same - except for the Empire State Building bit - that was new.

[ihavenoarms]

me to Watching the Macy's Day Fourth Celebration on Television on Television as I'm from Canada we did not have any fireworks Celebrations on July 1 do to coved only the people shooting them outside the homes same The fireworks want all night long, tell about 400 am any way happy 4th

[shadowkat]

Thank you!

Happy Belated Canada Day!

[cactuswatcher]

I spent part of the evening gently petting the cat, so he'd get the idea the fireworks outside were just noise and nothing to be afraid of.

It's a good thing we've had considerable rain lately, because it's been extremely dry and there were a lot of folks setting off their own fireworks last night. I probably heard more than any time since I left Missouri 20 years ago. Most fireworks that make a big boom or shoot into the air are banned for use near towns here, but thanks to our wack-doodle state legislature, it's legal to sell most of those things in town! In Phoenix, the police patrol on evening of the 4th, to catch anyone shooting off hours' worth. (Anyone can get away with shooting off a few, but they can't keep doing it.) Last night sounded like the good old days in Missouri when you weren't afraid to set half the state on fire with a single bottle rocket.

[shadowkat]

Fireworks and loud noises appear to be extremely painful to animals ears and frightening, making me wonder how they put up with us pesky humans. The neighborhood FB had a lot of folks complaining and asking people to stop setting off the loud fireworks in the neighborhood - because it was harming their pets.

Good news on the rain - last thing you needed was a wildfire set off by fireworks. I think it's really hard to crack down on folks setting them off - without making it illegal to sell them.

What NY finally did last year was kind of interesting - they went to the other states and shut down the transport of the fireworks to NY State. Making it illegal to transport them into the state, along with selling them in the state. Mainly because NYC was setting off fireworks from roughly May through July, every single night, and they got desperate. Finally they ran out of fireworks, and got tired of being arrested at the border for smuggling them in to the state.

They also reached out to the other states - to no avail, but they tried.

I'm thinking there's a shortage this year - so we've had less of them. They are still being set off, just not nearly as badly. Either that - or a lot of the idiots who were doing it stopped for some reason. There's still idiots doing it - but more reasonably - they only did it until 11:00 pm or 11:30pm last night. Last year they did it all night long, from the moment it got dark.

Also people aren't bored and stuck at home any longer. They could travel, wander about, and do social stuff. So the bored teens weren't setting off fireworks - that was so last year.

[yourlibrarian]

Lucky you if the fireworks were only 30 minutes (which is what professional shows usually do, 20-30 minutes). It went on for two hours here and at 1 AM we were still getting booms.

[shadowkat]

I was admittedly surprised the booming stopped around 11:30. I think the idiots setting them off near me either ran out, or the got tired.