Junk Drawer

You would never know that fireworks are illegal in Illinois, particularly on Fourth of July weekend. Chicago residents usually go to the Indiana border to buy their fill of crazy exploding things, from witch whistles to M-80’s, and whatever’s available. The police generally look the other way, as long as people aren’t deliberately launching miniature missiles at other people. That’s what gun powder was originally meant for after all—for making cool explosive displays of lights in the sky, not for killing people.

I watched some good fireworks displays from a rooftop in Pilsen on Saturday. The next morning I took a walk by a local park in Lincoln Square and discovered there had been a show in my neighborhood as well. There were fireworks debris on the baseball fields, but park attendants, apparently, soon came to clean it up. I guess the Fourth is not too good environmentally, but at least it is only once a year. And places that do them all the time, like Navy Pier, probably should cut back.

Firework items in Chicago have kind of an exotic quality, because you know they weren’t purchased around the corner.
I remember being younger and finding remnants of them in the schoolyard, with their bright colors and dangerous sounding names. I saved some, but they’re kind of hard to collect, because they’re mostly blown apart, and unused ones you don’t want to leave sitting around.
By age 12, during a not uncommon pyro phase, I got some mild fireworks and sparky things and set them off.
Fireworks still hold a certain allure, even after seeing them plenty of times. I thought of this as I picked up a few in the park, partly to help clean up, and partly just to see some of those exciting pyrotechnic items up close again.