The Grinch Who Stole the 4th of July

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Clarissa

July 4, 2012

Last year, there were the most amazing fireworks in my neighborhood. They went on for over 2 hours, and if you went to the senior citizens’ facility nearby, you could see the sky light up in all directions.

This year, however, we’ve had very minimal fireworks that lasted under four minutes!

Also, I noticed that nobody in our street had the July 4th barbecue. We are a street of passionate barbecuers but this year there have been no barbecues for the holiday.

Is this happening because of the heat? We are at +32C right now, and it’s ten to 11 at night! Imagine what it was like during the day. Are people afraid of starting fires accidentally?

By the way, I just discovered a great way of dealing with the heat. You need to carry a bottle of water with you and keep pouring it on the nape of your neck. If there is no bottle, water from sprinklers can be used for this purpose. I will have to venture out of the house tomorrow, and I will use this method because otherwise I’ll just wilt in this heat.

How do you survive this horrible weather?

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13 responses to “The Grinch Who Stole the 4th of July”

Steve

July 4, 2012

And here I am sitting with a blanket over my shoulders and a heater under my desk.

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1. bloggerclarissa
  
  July 4, 2012
  
  I don’t usually suffer from envy. But right now I do. 🙂 🙂
  
  Oh, to walk barefoot in the snow. . .
  
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djiril

July 5, 2012

Where I am (the coast of Northern California) is probably the best place to be when the US is going through a heatwave. It’s been overcast or rainy most of the week and when the sun comes out there’s still a cold breeze.
I’m kind of envying all of those people complaining about the heat because I would really like to wear some summer clothes without freezing. Then again, when I was elsewhere during the last heatwave I spent the whole time wishing I was here.

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1. bloggerclarissa
  
  July 5, 2012
  
  Oh, this sounds like paradise. I love Northern California.
  
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jenniagnes

July 5, 2012

When I was a kid we used to spend a month in Cyprus every year visiting family. We always went in August, when it was always around 40C+ during the day, and when I was really small my family didn’t even have air conditioning yet. Hell. My mum always swore by the little bottle of eau de toilette she carried everywhere with her and spritzed herself with every now and then. The moisture kept her cool and she smelled nice!

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Sam W

July 5, 2012

Nape is a good place and so is the inside of your arms. There’s loads of bloodvessels that will benefit from the evaporation.

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1. bloggerclarissa
  
  July 5, 2012
  
  Ok, I’ll totally try the insides of my arms. Thanks!
  
  I prepare for each outing as if it were a Polar expedition.
  
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Sarah Brodsky (@sarahbrodsky)

July 5, 2012

I’m just on the other side of the Mississippi from you, and lots of fireworks over here were canceled because of the drought. Everything is really dry and it would be easy to start a fire.

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1. bloggerclarissa
  
  July 5, 2012
  
  I think we need to move July 4 to January. Like the Cubans did to their festival.
  
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  1. bloggerclarissa
    
    July 5, 2012
    
    I mean the Cubans moved the festival the other way round : from winter to summer.
    
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el

July 5, 2012

//I just discovered a great way of dealing with the heat.

Do you wear a good, wide hat?

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Liese

July 5, 2012

Ours were cancelled due to fire danger. It’s been absurdly hot here (105!) and we have had 3 major fires burning for almost a month, 11 fires altogether (although on any given day that changes, just today a lightning started brush fire erupted only a few miles from my house.) So, our fireworks (city) are being stored until October, don’t know why they chose then to shoot them off, but that’s the plan.

The AQI in my area was 109 today, that is triple what it usually is, I have sequestered my daughter with RAD (lung disease) indoors until the wind blows the smoke particles the other way.

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n8chz

July 6, 2012

Last year, there were the most amazing fireworks in my neighborhood. They went on for over 2 hours, and if you went to the senior citizens’ facility nearby, you could see the sky light up in all directions.

This year, however, we’ve had very minimal fireworks that lasted under four minutes!

Opposite story here, largely because Michigan just legalized fireworks a couple weeks ago. This was the loudest July 4 ever. Now everyone and their brother is a pyrotechnician.

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