All Fired Up!

I just heard from one of Art's cousins that her house was nearly burned on the 4th of July. She and her husband spent the night hosing down their house while the fires burned in Kalama Valley. Their son took this photo. Art says he heard something about it in the news, but didn't realize his cousin's house was so close to the fire. In fact, their neighbors were out for the evening so the cousins were hosing down their neighbors' houses as well. The fires, of course, were caused by fireworks.

In our neighborhood, at around 11:30 PM somebody detonated a bomb. I swear it was a bomb! It was so loud, it shook our house and AT LEAST a half dozen cars in the street had their security alarms go off from the vibration.

I'm so mad about it! What idiots! How does this make it fun for anybody? What makes them think this is the way to celebrate the 4th?

Hmmm.... I'm just noticing that my posts are taking a downward turn. I need to find something happy to write about! Sheesh!

I'm not even going to write about Governor Lingle vetoing the Civil Unions bill... nope not a word...

POSTSCRIPT: Ooops! I'm noticing (from comments) that people are thinking our cousins' house burned. It didn't. They were spared, but it certainly gave them some frightening moments. Their neighbors' homes were also OK, and I hope they are grateful for the cousins working so hard hosing their houses down.

Illegal !^%!&# Fireworks!!!

Enough is enough! I feel like I've been hearing fire crackers go off since after Thanksgiving and it's ridiculous! Some of the fire crackers aren't fire crackers. They are explosions! Horrendous! The walls of the house actually shake and I've heard more than one car alarm go off from the shock waves.

Each year the smoke from the fireworks sends people with respiratory conditions to the hospitals. I have one friend who actually went to stay at a hotel with more air tight rooms and air conditioning because she has asthma. It also injures and sometimes kills people who were playing with or near others who were exploding the fireworks stupidly.

This has been a problem since before we left the islands over 35 years ago. Setting off firecrackers to ward off evil spirits going into the new year is a Chinese custom. Hawaii is a melting pot for different worldwide customs. So why not set off a few state regulated fireworks at Chinese (lunar) New Years?

Here's the Law:
§132D-3 Permissible uses of consumer fireworks. Consumer fireworks may be set off, ignited, discharged, or otherwise caused to explode within the State only:

(1) From 9:00 p.m. on New Year's Eve to 1:00 a.m. on New Year's Day; from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Chinese New Year's Day; and from 1:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. on the Fourth of July;...

Well... I'm thinking there's a WHOLE lot of crazy people out there who don't know the law or don't care.

I just saw this article in the Star Bulletin this morning.




Fireworks are on sale EVERYWHERE we go. It really IS ridiculous! Maybe I'm just cranky from having explosions go off at 2:30 in the morning. The police can't catch the culprits because by the time they get there, the crazy perpetrators are gone.

I'm sorry I haven't been able to visit these past few days. I've had insomnia and my cold is not 100% gone yet. I thought I had it licked and we went for our usual walk in the evening. Doing too much along with the irritating fireworks explosions in the middle of the night may have caused a bit of a relapse. I have one day to shape up for New Years!