Just came down from watching the International Freedom Festival Fireworks on my roof. Just incredible.
I've watch a lot of fireworks displays and enjoy the hell out of them, but Detroit is a special case for me. For those who don't know, every year Detroit and Windsor (its sister city across the Detroit river) chip in together to throw one hell of a firework display as a co-comemoration of 4th of July and Canada Day (hence their ocurring on June 23rd). This display is a case study on the concept of "excessive". Of course, that's what fireworks are all about, so its fantastic. But most fireworks you get used to a sort of cadence or rhythm. Establish it strong, fade out, throw up a few big and pretty ones, hit hard again, back off, finale. Well, we don't buy that here. It starts by filling the sky with fireworks and doesn't let up, even a little, for 25 minutes.
With a display this constant and incredibly, how can you tell when the finale is coming? You know that guy that lives down the street from you, who comes home every night around 1AM? You know how you always know when he's coming home because of that damn stereo? When the finale started, you could no longer hear individual reports of shells being launched, just that same low level rumble (about 30 Hz I'd say) you hear from that guys stereo. It lasted for over a minute, and was about as loud as a gentle rain. I am six miles away from the launch site.
Just incredible, even from my roof looking over the tops of the trees. I had hoped to make the trip in my boat this year, which would have been beyond belief, but unfortunately it wasn't ready yet. Next year I'll make it, I can't imagine what it will be like being right there.
Posted by ktismael at June 23, 2004 10:49 PM