Smoke gets in your...pool

This is sort of a related issue to the blog below in that it involves smoke in Florida. Florida is just now starting to get over drought conditions, which included a large number of brush fires that cast a pall over much of the state (mostly north) over the last couple of months. So I was quite surprised to see, in both Ft. Myers and Ft. Lauderdale, many large, temporary tents under which fireworks were openly being sold. Oddly enough, some of these stands were in the middle of dry, tinder, weed-infested fields, but that didn’t seem to deter these entrepreneurs. Having also seen quite a few signs posted about the illegality of fireworks in Florida and published threats of dire punishments, I inquired into the presence of these obviously popular concession stands. As it turns out it is perfectly legal to sell and buy fireworks in Florida as long as you sign a release that they are not intended for home use. How’s that for total hypocrisy? As you might suspect the firecracker and cherry bomb explosions started about 3:00 in the afternoon on July 4th and segued into major skyrocket displays until late in the evening. My gracious host in Hollywood insisted on staying home, garden hose closely at hand, just to guard his house from the flaming debris falling from the skies…and who can blame him? Goodness knows the neighbors didn’t point their bottle rockets over their own houses. The all-encompassing smoke was another issue but equally off-putting. Celebrating Independence Day is one thing; mindless vandalism in honor of it is another.

My goodness, what has happened to my youthful spirit? I should be out there in the street with beer on my breath and a Zippo in my hand.