Painting the night sky

My wife, Sandy, and I spent many hours fishing, kicking around in the woods and simply sharing our passion for the outdoors when we first met, but we also grew acquainted with each other’s friends during the early stages of our relationship.

In turn, I gained several new acquaintances along the way, many of which I truly appreciate. But I was also blessed with some newly found good friends out of the deal. In fact, there is a small group in particular with which I share an activity that few have an opportunity to experience.

It all began when Dave Hoffman invited me to participate in setting up his annual fireworks display. Dave was licensed to purchase and shoot Class B fireworks. These were the big boys, the fireworks that folks gathered together by the droves to watch during the holidays.

Sandy had been helping Dave with his displays for several years. And of course, I eagerly accepted when Dave so graciously offered to allow me to participate as well. I have been helping with the annual event for several years now. In turn, I have also become very acquainted with and attached to his crew.

There are inherent dangers in setting up and shooting Class B fireworks. In turn, Dave depends upon a core group of four people, all of whom have attended classes and have been certified to set up fireworks displays.

Each member of the group appears to have a strong point, which in turn ensures the chore of setting up an entire display much less of a challenge and deems the process safer.

Although I have become more efficient with time, I am still the most inexperienced member of the clan. But I do try to work hard and am extremely thankful to be a part of his elite team.

We recently began preparations for Dave’s annual Memorial Day show. Of course, his work had begun long before we ever stepped into the field, as the entire show had to be choreographed, which is an arduous task within itself. Specific mortars had to be chosen and everything had to be timed and sequenced. Let alone the fact that the fireworks could not go unattended until they were finally dispersed into the sky.

With three days until the scheduled shoot, we gathered near the lake’s edge and began placing racks and tubes according to Dave’s schematic. After stretching lines and testing the field modules, we agreed to gather bright and early on the following morning to load mortars.

Well, the next day also went without a hitch. We identified and loaded all of the mortars into the tubes and had them capped before the afternoon sun grew too intense.

We arrived bright and early on the following and final day. Although connecting electric matches from the field modules to their respective fuses can prove somewhat of a brain teaser at times, we had everything hooked up and ready to fire with ample time to unwind before the show was scheduled to begin later that evening.

Everything had gone as planned during the entire process. And only a few hours separated us from that magical time when our efforts would be rewarded with brilliant and bright colors dancing across the night sky.

But experience has taught us that one doesn’t count their proverbial chickens until they hatch. Nothing more than a faulty battery in a main control panel can abruptly stop a show. And one can only imagine the adverse effects of an untimely rain.

We had already tested the battery and she was a go. But there was little we could do, other than cover our mortars when a storm quickly brewed in the atmosphere and it began to rain.

Although the sky cleared long before the sun fell behind the horizon, I couldn’t help but ponder how many of the shells had been adversely affected by the heavy rains. To say I was consumed with anticipation just before the show began would prove an understatement. But following the first burst of success, I gladly watched as our mortars painted the night sky.