Firecrackers, Fingers and the Fourth of July

 We drove to Ardmore, Oklahoma this morning to take our 6 year old grandson,  Nathan, back home after spending a few days with us. And, along the way,  I bet we saw about a dozen fireworks stands....And of course, it triggered a few memories about the Fourth of July.

Please understand, I truly know the meaning of the 4th and why we celebrate it, and I knew the meaning even as a young Skeeter boy growing up in Ohio. But there is no denying it, the 4th also meant firecrackers, cherry bombs, silver salutes,  pop bottle rockets and of course damaged fingers, singed eyebrows and an occasional busted eardrum.

Whenever it came to anything exploding, or fire, or breaking the law or getting in trouble....one always knew “The Jer’ was involved. “The Jer” was one or two grades older than me....the reason I say one or two, sometime along the way he had to repeat a grade or two....one at Our Lady of Mercy and one grade at Fairview High School .....unlike an other friend growing up, Eddie Stout, who actually skipped a grade at Loos school.... I always liked to surround myself with  a diversified group of free thinkers.

“The Jer” had a real knack for understanding the intricacies of fireworks...It wasn’t  just lighting the dang fuse and throwing the firecracker or cherry bomb.....it was also the thrill of seeing how long you could hold it without blowing off a  finger. He was an expert...the veritable “Firecracker King of the Hill.......however, it didn’t come without the loss  of a bit of a finger here or there or some burning flesh on his arms or legs.

Usually a few days before the 4th, we began to watch for a stranger in the neighborhood, slowing cruising through the streets in a bad-ass, raked,  ‘53 Chevy or possibly a later ‘55 Chevy....his hair slicked down, shades on, usually a non-filtered Camel or Lucky cig hangin’ out of his mouth. He wasn’t sellin’ drugs...not back in those days.....he was sellin’ illegal fireworks.... I guess in a sense, it was the drug of choice for “The Jer” back than.

The Greaser would spot us walkin’ down the street or playin’ over at Loos school and he would slowly pull up to us and say....You guys lookin’ to buy firecrackers?”....Dang right we were....and we all had been saving or earning money since school had let out for the Summer just for this moment. The “dealer” would get out, scan the area for any cops or parents and then pop open the trunk to display a cache of pleasure. He had it all, cherry bombs, roman candles, foot long packs of firecrackers and even the little kid stuff like sparklers and black snakes.

It was intoxicating.....we gave the guy our dough...he shoved it in his pockets...filled a brown paper bag with our orders...threw in a few free extra packs of ladyfingers and as he flipped his cigarette butt at “The Jer”....he shouted “Now don’t blow your dang fingers off”......wow....great advice coming from a loose cannon like that on the streets.

We were thrilled....man, this year was going to be the best...the loudest... we were all set. This would top even the year “The Jer” placed a cherry bomb under a tuna fish can and it blew like shrapnel right thru Ernie Pierson’s kitchen window.  And this would even be greater than when “The Jer” surgically removed all of the black powder from I bet 200 firecrackers and packed it all inside a tennis bail and lit the dang thing and threw it in the air at the last second. It rained burning, stinking rubber all over us.

Yep, I have a lot of memories of the 4th...going to the Putt-Putt on Main St. and watching the fireworks display at the driving range.....as a high school student going up to Guy Kennedy’s lake house at Indian Lake and causin’ what some people thought was a mini-riot when  all we did was got drunk and paraded thru town throwin’ firecrackers at anybody we saw......”The Jer” even jumped off the bridge that crossed the lake during one 4th celebration......I think that was the same year....  we were headed to the Lake and “The Jer” attempted to throw a cherry bomb out the window when in fact the window was still rolled up. He did get it out just in the knick of time, but he couldn’t hear anything for an hour or two.

I guess I survived it all.....I seem to be able to hear okay..... I don’t notice many large scars on my arms and I have all 8 of my fingers.......well, I wasn’t counting thumbs.

I hope all of you have a fun 4th of July.....I hope you remember the reason we celebrate it...and of course....be safe..........and if you see someone actin’ kind of crazy, blowing gasoline out of his mouth or holdin’ a firecracker in his hand till the last minute.....tell him Skeeter said “Hi”....I’m sure it’s “The Jer”.