Fireworks

[astra_nomer]

I'll review yesterday's events in reverse chronological order:


Last night, we went to see fireworks with benazeer and M in Vienna. A lot less crowded than the National Mall, and you can get right up close to the fireworks. Perhaps a little too close. You see, something went terribly wrong during the finale. Things went completely out of control, with fireworks going off in all directions, including one directly into the crowd - not in our direction, fortunately. It looked like a few went off right on the ground from the launch area. As we were walking away, several ambulances came screaming by. Turns out there were several injuries, including 5 children. Makes me reconsider taking the kids to see fireworks again.

The rest of our day was (thankfully) less worrisome.

We had dinner at benazeer's place, with her and M. Fortunately, the storm cleared right after we got there, and they were able to use the grill outside, even if it was too wet to eat out there.

As we were heading out to benazeer's place, a big storm hit. Fortunately, we were off the expressway when the worst of the storm came through, bringing sheets of rain and hail. We waited outside for a few minutes before going in, in the hopes that the rain would die down, and finally DS1 and I made a break for it (DS2 was fast asleep), and got sopping wet in the 20 feet between car and door. By the time I headed back out to help DH with DS2, it had slowed down considerably. Chalk one up to bad timing.

We spent the afternoon at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, eating yummy food, watching performances, admiring crafts, and generally having a good time. DS1 always enjoys watching people making things, and his favorite was the Claymation booth in the Northern Ireland area. DS2 was more interested in watching the mummers. I hear that one of the cultures next year will be NASA, in honor of its 50th anniversary. I wonder what they will serve in their food booth - freeze-dried ice cream and Tang, I suppose...

Comments

[ilai]

Eep! Good thing y'all are safe. It almost sounds like y'all were beset by fire and ice.

[astra-nomer.livejournal.com]

Heh. It was rather like that, come to think of it...

[capsicumanuum.livejournal.com]

The really scary thing was, most of the crowd didn't seem to be scared by the fireworks shooting off through the trees and right over their heads until the ambulances started showing up. uncle_nomer and backfromthedead were among the first to realize something had gone wrong, and there were plenty of people closer to the action than we were.

[astra-nomer.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that was eerie - the people clapping afterward as if nothing had gone wrong was kind of disturbing.

[chenoameg.livejournal.com]

Yikes.

It does sound like you had a good day nonetheless.