July 4

The July 2009 NaBloPoMo theme is “routine”

The new target date for Freya’s first Rally Obedience trial is now set in stone. Okay, maybe that’s a bit dramatic, but I did mail in our entry last week for a UKC trial on July 25. So I definitely need to take a little time tomorrow to set up a training routine for the next three weeks. I’ll be trying to fit in any available run-throughs, fun matches, and drop-in classes. With the freakish weather that we’ve had lately, I also want to have both an outdoor plan and an indoor plan each day for home practice sessions. There’s not much space to practice in the house, but there are still a number of exercises that don’t need much space to practice: call front and finish, 270° and 360° left and right turns, spirals, sits, and downs.

I was going to start today, but the Fourth of July caused a huge disruption in our routine. I complained the other day about jagoffs who insisted on starting the holiday fireworks days ahead of time. I am not un-American, and I usually do not get overly bent out of shape about noisy celebrations until midnight or later. But my normally quiet neighborhood sounds like a war zone tonight. People are blowing off fireworks that are loud enough to set off car alarms, which they have, a half dozen times since nightfall. I’ve heard quarter-stick and maybe even half-stick sized “booms” tonight. Nothing that loud is legal in Chicago.

It’s almost midnight and there are still fireworks going off. The air is still thick with smoke. I am asthmatic, although it barely bothers me these days: except on New Year’s Eve and the Fourth of July. I really don’t want to go out there and breathe that stuff, and I wouldn’t, except that the dogs have to go out before bedtime. I don’t really want them breathing that stuff either, but they definitely need a potty break. Neither of the dogs is actively fearful of fireworks, but Axel feels he needs to protect me from whoever is shooting at us. That gets a little stressful for both of us.

Needless to say, the early evening hours when we would normally train outside were not particularly conducive to learning or practicing today. I really hope the neighborhood jagoffs have used up all of their fireworks. Since it’s still the weekend, I’m concerned that their inconsiderate jagoff selves will choose to continue blowing off fireworks for one more day. None of them seems to have blown off a finger or set their own garages on fire, so karma hasn’t come around yet either.

I’m doing something I never do, and am hoping for rain and lots of it. I didn’t get my wish tonight, and it’s not looking good for tomorrow.

(NaBloPoMo | July ’09: 4 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 161 of 274)

I grew up in a time and place where fireworks were completely legal, and considered essential to many ethnic and non-ethnic celebrations. My paternal grandfather supposedly knew pyrotechnics, how to make the fireworks and how to get the different colors and effects, but it was not something any of his sons picked up on.

As an adult, I still enjoy a quality aerial display. One memory that sticks with me (good thing, too, it’s something I could never have photographed) was of a July 4 many years ago. I was riding my motorcycle, heading home from the Chain o’ Lakes to the north side of Chicago. I left as darkness was falling, which was not the safest time to leave, but it turned out to be the most spectacular time that day as I saw part of just about every fireworks display in every town between Fox Lake and Chicago as I headed home.

What I do not like is the jagoffs who insist on blowing off fireworks starting three or four days before, and continuing to three or four days after New Year’s Day or the Fourth of July. What I hate even more is the even bigger jagoffs who try to scare kids or animals with said fireworks. It’s been 15 years, and I still get mad when I think of one of our neighbors who purposely lit off a firecracker to scare our 4-month old Rottweiler puppy. His life really hasn’t gone well in the years since then, and you know what, karma is a bitch, isn’t it?

I feel lucky that none of our past or present dogs or cats are seriously frightened of fireworks. Even that puppy got over it quickly and she grew up to be one of the most rock-steady dogs I’ve ever had. The ones who are slightly afraid are fine as long as we don’t make them come out from under the bed against their will. Freya and Axel are convinced we are at war and that they must defend our home and yard from incoming attacks. Needless to say, they spend a lot of time indoors until the “war” is over. Thanks, guys, but I wish you would listen to the part about “there is no war here.”

It’s still only the second, and some of the neighborhood jagoffs are already blowing stuff up. I know it’s wrong, but I really am hoping something bad happens to them. I will not feel sorry for any of them who get burned or blow off one or two digits, and I just hope no innocent bystanders get hurt in the process.

(NaBloPoMo | July ’09: 2 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 159 of 274)

Disruption in the routine

Fireworks and jagoffs