IT'S OVER

CROWDED HOUSE - DON'T DREAM IT'S OVER


 Well, it's over. Guy Fawkes Day celebrations anyway.

Years ago Guy Fawkes Day meant a lot to me. My brother and I and friends from the neighbourhood used to really get into it. I've blogged about this before.

See here:

WASTING MONEY ON FIREWORKS


Tonight, for the first time in years I bought some fireworks. Not many, just a pack of 4 Roman Candles - the type that fire exploding balls up into the air, a bit like the old (now banned) skyrockets. The pack cost $20 so it was $5 a candle. Each candle fired 7 balls (although I'm sure that one fired 8) which meant that I got 28 or 29 bangs for my $20. Pretty good.

I bought them to impress The Old Girl who is up here this weekend. Or so I thought.

The Old Girl wasn't very impressed. Bummer!

"Is that it?"

She didn't go down to the beach with me (across the road from the house) where I'd set up my launch pad. She said that she'd prefer to stay on the deck and watch from there.

Earlier in the evening I'd prepared my launch pad. I took one of the building blocks from the step arrangement that I''d built a few years ago.

I fossicked under the house and found a piece of plumbers pipe and proceeded to cut it to a desirable length - about a foot, so that I could anchor it inside the builder's block and put the Roman Candles in.

When I came back in the house The Old Girl said:

"What were you doing under the house?

I answered:

"Nothing".

She said:

" I heard the sound of sawing. I don't like it when you are sawing something. There's likely to be an accident"

I need to explain here that I'm not a Robert when it comes to D.I.Y. and not even a Richard. In fact I'm crap at it and the Old Girl has no confidence in me at all in this regard.

I waited for dark and, to be honest, to see if any other idiots in the street were going to let any fireworks off. None were so, I bit the bullet and went down to the beach and fired off the 'candles'.
I admit they were OK - fiery and noisy. I'd gone down to the beach to let them off rather than doing so from the deck as I had an awful feeling that I'd set light to the Pohutakawa trees in front of the house. From the beach where the tide was out I was clear of anything flammable (except for the boats resting at anchor).

It didn't happen I'm happy to say

After I finished some neighbours down the street set some off too but I think that they were, like me, slightly embarrassed about the whole thing.

Generally I sense that the Guy Fawkes firework thing has had its day. There isn't the excitement anymore, the fireworks are expensive and the PC brigade has pretty much taken the fireworks out of the hands of children who get bored if they can't fire them off and terrorise their friends. Bangers or crackers were outlawed years ago which really were the best thing about the day.

So, for me, this is the last time that I will ever buy any fireworks.
Coming back into the house The Old Girl said that Willow our cat had been frightened and was hiding behind the couch. Years ago she used to be fascinated by fireworks and used to watch them from a window. I guess then that it's over.