At 9:00 p.m. sharp, the sound of rockets flying and grenades exploding brought a cop helicopter overhead with its searchlight a-glare.
Around this time of year, the ghost shopping center at Dunlap and the I-17 puts on a fireworks show on Friday nights. They used to do it every Friday night, all summer long, but now that there are hardly any stores left for people to shop in, they limit the gala celebrations to a couple weeks on either side of July 4.
With Sally’s tree gone, I had a great view from my backyard! They shot off some spectacular colored showers of pyrotechnic stars, skyrockets, fountains…it was quite a display.
My old house was practically underneath the fireworks show. But now, deeper in the neighborhood and further away from the hectic intersections of Dunlap and the freeway, the view is often obscured by the neighbors’ foliage. Before Sally cut the big Aleppo pine out of her front yard, it fully blocked any sight of the mall’s fireworks extravaganza.
LOL! They always kick off with some loud firecracker-like things that sound for all the world like gunfire. And invariably, the first night of the season that the fireworks start, some newbie resident calls the cops and reports shots fired. Hence, a cop copter fly-by.
Well, I’d rather have the tree all summer (and winter) than one or two, or even several, fireworks displays. But it was fun to see the show.
Image: San Diego Fireworks. PD Photo.org. Public domain.