Fireworks 2006
Another All Hallows Eve drawing to a close on Bowen Island and the dog managed to stay in town until the main fireworks were over. I went down to the beach where the fireman had everything set up, instead of being in the crowd on the causeway. It’s not anything like the set up for the August fireworks in Vancouver every summer with finely choreographed, computer controlled, electronically fused ten inch mortars.
Bowen’s fireworks consisted of about six batteries of maybe eight two inch tubes and the choreography is just one guy saying “it’s 7:26″ and then a few minutes later a couple others telling the other guys “let’s go” and another short wait while they got their act together and finally put the fire to the sky. No computer controller here, they had punks like a larger version of what one would use to light the votive candles in a church and it’s a matter of finding a fuse that hasn’t been lit yet, and then standing back a few feet until it takes off.
The percussion from the mortars going off is fairly mild even being just a few feet away, these are not what you would call a large mortar in any sense of the word and although it’s noisy there isn’t any ringing afterwards if you don’t have ear plugs in. It was nicer last year when I had a joint to smoke beforehand, kinda lame otherwise and glad I didn’t have to go a long ways to see it!