“THAT’S TOO LOUD”, says an annoyed and somewhat intimidated Cecily, who got to experience a fireworks show closer than she’s ever been before.
Lily decided to do the evening on blades! We went to Pueblo, to the Riverwalk for the celebration. Fireworks and a live orchestra, playing, you guessed it, their idea of patriotic music (I wish just once the orchestras would play something besides William Tell and Star Wars.. at least Copeland or something).
We had a great time. We stayed in Pueblo that evening, and had a fun dinner and pleasant walk down the Riverwalk after the fireworks show. She was on blades almost the entire time, skating along the river, and playing skatejump on the rocks and various concrete level variations. She enjoyed the fountains, the lights, and just being in a city at night (something she hasn’t done much, but when she has, it’s been all over the country).
We reminded her of her long ago assignment she’d given fireworks – “Color, color, boom, booms”. When she was 18 months or so, we took her to her second show up at Estes and she aptly named the lights in the sky, along with their delayed sound effects, and it’s stuck ever since.
Here is the Riverwalk, for reference. This is the wall we are sitting on in the photos, we’re facing the same direction the picture is, with the fountain/falls behind us.
We spent a few good moments talking about how fireworks are made, what sort of chemistry is involved, and how they are choreographed for shows. We watched How It’s Made, as well as Fireworks Science episodes to really get a good idea of what it looks like to make an explosive, what sort of chemicals are responsible for the various colors, how explosives work, and the mechanical and technical/digital aspects of putting together the shows and launching the fireworks on time. We also discussed positioning, how some combustible materials explode slower/faster, discussed the concept of a fuse, and not starting a fire because the colors land on something flammable. Lily proceeded to make her own bomb, fuse and all…
