Believe it or not, everyone in Hawaii used to do this at midnight! You would not believe how noisy it was. It is so loud in the clip below that the mic is simply not recording properly. The actual sound is deafening... no joke... you have to cover your ears.
1971. The economy had boomed. All the kids got fireworks for Christmas. The smoke and the noise were unbelievable.
Just say to anyone from Hawaii:
"I wen' light one ten tausand! Aunty wen' buy 'em fo' me at Arakawa's (or Gem's)."
Mochi. Makizushi. Turkey from the kamado. Potato salad.
Christmas tree still up. The smell of Douglas fir.
The dog freaking out (or passed out on a tranquilizer).
Hanging flares from threads so they would spin around like rockets. Making rockets out of a match head (or a firecracker with almost all the paper peeled off), a piece of foil, and a broom straw. Baby Camels. Uncle's boxes of skyrockets smuggled from the Big Island ("They are only illegal if you get caught!" he would say). Lighting a pack and trying to throw it up in the air as high as you could. Getting burned by the punk. No wind. "Cold". Yelling "Car!" when a car was coming so no one would light a pack. Getting a big bamboo pole and hanging the #10,000 in the driveway... and dad giving you his cigarette and letting you light it for the first time. The way it would stop just when it got to the head. The road and driveway covered in red paper from the firecrackers. Raking it all up. The "duds" going off from time to time.
The remembrance of things past... a world we can see now only in memory...
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