Fireflies
On Fourth of July, I followed the yearly tradition of going to watch the fireworks show. This year in New Haven, fireworks will be set off from East Rock Park. Last year, I went over to Long Wharf, but this year, I read online that there were a number of parks where it would be possible to get a good view of the show. The best view would be from the top of East Rock, but that comes with a $15 entrance fee. As a result, we headed over to Blake Field by Willow Street.
We arrived there around 8:45, about half an hour before the show started. It was quite a walk. We basically walked to Science Hill, then around it and went through a slightly sketchy part of town before reaching the field. The field was next to a magnet school and what appeared to be an abandoned or unused ice skating rink. Nonetheless, there was a good amount of field and view of the night sky. By the time we got there, there were already a number of people waiting for the show to begin.
As the seconds before showtime passed, a few sparks flew from East Rock. Perhaps they were testing it out a bit. When the sky was nice and dark, the fireworks show began. It was one of those musical fireworks shows where they synchronized the fireworks to music. But we were too far away to really hear the music.
I've always had a thing with fireworks. I really enjoyed watching them. There was always something captivating about them, beautiful bursts of brightness that blossom briefly before vanishing (alliteration not intentional). It is like watching a dream, like those surreal music visualizations on the computer but in real life, an elegant and perfect expression form.
As usual, I was holding my camera up the entire time, snapping away to try to capture just one or two bursts that may later on come out surprisingly well. I didn't have a tripod with me this time, which made that difficult to do due to all the camera shake. Last year at Long Wharf, I stood by a garbage bin the whole time because I was able to use its lid to stabilize my camera and block out some of the smell.
A few years back, I watched the tail end of the HSBC Celebration of Light in Vancouver, BC. Celebration of Light was a week-long international fireworks competition. What was amazing, besides the fireworks and music, was that almost the entire city poured onto the beach at English Bay to watch. That year, Mexico won.
The show gradually crescendoed into its grand finale. This year's Fourth of July fireworks was definitely better than last year's. It certainly was amazing and quite worth the long hike from campus.
We arrived there around 8:45, about half an hour before the show started. It was quite a walk. We basically walked to Science Hill, then around it and went through a slightly sketchy part of town before reaching the field. The field was next to a magnet school and what appeared to be an abandoned or unused ice skating rink. Nonetheless, there was a good amount of field and view of the night sky. By the time we got there, there were already a number of people waiting for the show to begin.
As the seconds before showtime passed, a few sparks flew from East Rock. Perhaps they were testing it out a bit. When the sky was nice and dark, the fireworks show began. It was one of those musical fireworks shows where they synchronized the fireworks to music. But we were too far away to really hear the music.
I've always had a thing with fireworks. I really enjoyed watching them. There was always something captivating about them, beautiful bursts of brightness that blossom briefly before vanishing (alliteration not intentional). It is like watching a dream, like those surreal music visualizations on the computer but in real life, an elegant and perfect expression form.
As usual, I was holding my camera up the entire time, snapping away to try to capture just one or two bursts that may later on come out surprisingly well. I didn't have a tripod with me this time, which made that difficult to do due to all the camera shake. Last year at Long Wharf, I stood by a garbage bin the whole time because I was able to use its lid to stabilize my camera and block out some of the smell.
A few years back, I watched the tail end of the HSBC Celebration of Light in Vancouver, BC. Celebration of Light was a week-long international fireworks competition. What was amazing, besides the fireworks and music, was that almost the entire city poured onto the beach at English Bay to watch. That year, Mexico won.
The show gradually crescendoed into its grand finale. This year's Fourth of July fireworks was definitely better than last year's. It certainly was amazing and quite worth the long hike from campus.
Comments
Post a Comment