This July 4th we will have a small picnic and set off some sparklers with our granddaughter. It’s different this year than last and next year we will probably do something else. But when I was young, it was the same celebration every year.
It would start with a girl named Izzie. She was an only child and she always had an endless supply of things that burned, sparkled, popped or made noise. Izzie’s aunt was our next door neighbor and every Fourth her family came from out of town to spend the day with them. We were the kids she played with because her aunt’s children were older.
She’d arrive about 10 in the morning with a bag of surprises. I have no idea where her dad got the things in that bag because my dad always said he couldn’t get any of that stuff. We would have a new cap gun and a box or two of caps. We’d also have some ordinary sparklers. But Izzie’s bag- it was magical.
First of all, she always had lots and lots of matches. Matches were a controlled substance in our house. She would also have a new cap gun but it was bigger than any of ours and usually a repeater unlike our single shot pistols.Ours would go Bang! Her’s would go Bang, bang, bang, … (do you sense my envy even now?)
There were the snakes. They started out as a little piece of black stuff but when you struck a match and lit the stuff it would start to grow. It would look like a snake was forming right there on the sidewalk. (The reason they were called snakes!) There were small firecrackers. My older brother and Iz would use these. I was always considered to little!
We always had an ample supply of sparklers but her’s were often colored and bigger. And she would have rolls and rolls of caps so we could take the hammer and smack them on the sidewalk for a very large bang! Sometimes she would have green caps. They were sticky on the back and had a louder sound.
The amazing thing about Izzie was her generosity. She could not wait to show us what she brought and then was just as enthusiastic about sharing all of it with us.
I don’t remember any picnics though I’m sure there were some. I really don’t remember any fireworks. Up until I was about 8, my Fourth of July celebrations were all about my out-of-town friend Izzie’s visit and the goodies she shared.