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Home > What's New > July 4th Fireworks
July 4th Fireworks
Posted: Friday, July 11, 2003
By Gordon Mott I had a really traditional July 4th. Golf in the morning. A long, quiet nap on a hot afternoon. And, then, it was off to a friend's house for a gathering of family and friends. The pool was filled with screaming kids, and adults trying to stay cool. The beers were cold, and more than a few gin and tonics could be seen.
The cookout started, and the feast was quickly prepared. Ribs. Lamb. Chicken. A big fresh salad. Corn on the cob. Lots of laughter. Cute jokes by the kids. And toasts by everyone from the kids to the host. Before dessert, we headed out to the backyard for a private fireworks show.
The host, who shall remain anonymous to protect him from prosecution for possessing and setting off illegal fireworks, had crossed through the great state of Pennsylvania on a recent trip and stopped at one of the roadside displays touting "Fireworks For Sale." Well, they had fireworks, all right. It might as well have been the Grucci family's retail outlet, or at least that's the way it seemed in the backyard surrounded by towering old forest trees with a small cylindrical hole to the sky. There were roman candles, rockets, things that went up and exploded in multicolored bursts and little squiggly things that shot out into the canopy of leaves and branches over the group.
The only flaw was the lighter. My friend had chosen one of those fancy long-nosed lighters used to ignite big fireplace fires, or for getting the charcoal started at the bottom of a pit barbecue. It failed. Finally, in frustration, the host, whom I was watching from across the lawn, tossed the lighter down, took a few puffs on his cigar, and lit the fireworks. The hissing and sparking of the fuse was evidence that it worked perfectly.
I was ready to offer my cigar in case his burned low. I had a 20-year-old Cuban Romeo y Julieta. He was smoking one of my favorite 10-year-old Arturo Fueute Don Carlos No. 3s, and loudly proclaiming what a great cigar it was. But neither of us had lit up in the expectation that it would save the day with the fireworks.
In fact, the cigar had been the perfect ending to a wonderful evening, again. We traded cigars. One of his favorites for one of my mine. We both relished the pleasures of smoking something that we normally don't have in our humidors. And, since we were on private property at a private home, there was no one muttering about our smoking, and no policemen swooping down to tell us to put our cigars out.
Like I said, it was the perfect ending to the Fourth of July, the day we celebrate our freedom and independence. And, we got to see fireworks. Also in Cigar News:
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