#84- Fireworks

This past weekend was Victoria Day weekend, otherwise known as May 2-4 or The Royal May 2-4 if you're a member of the Conservative Party.

There are a few things that happen every May 2-4 weekend as many of you may know. These include cottage country traffic, patios filling up and the air beginning to smell like someone slathered sun screen all over the city.

But one of the best traditions on this holiday weekend is fireworks.

Unfortunately, since Mother Nature decided to make it pour rain last night, I didn't get to see the massive fireworks show in Ottawa. But that doesn't change the fact that fireworks displays are amazing.

Even in a time and place where the miraculous has become the norm with the help of computers, tablets, special effects and those weird glasses you get at 3D movies, the dazzling display of lights and sounds on such a grand scale as a fireworks show can transfix people. And that's the amazing part, that such wonderment and awe can still be felt, such joy can be well up inside of people at seeing the sky turn yellow or red or orange or purple or whatever colour you could think of.

It's so rare to get tens of thousands of people all appreciating such a simple, but beautiful thing at the same time, to get them together and watch as they fall silent in the presence of that beauty. And seeing the fireworks is like seeing a movie for the first time again, when you wonder for a second how such a thing can happen before enjoying the show.

So I am grateful for fireworks. I am grateful for the people who work on setting up the shows for the special days and for the nights when the sky is clear and the air warm enough to enjoy such a display of beauty and might. When I was little I used to be scared of the tremendous sound of fireworks, but I loved watching the bursts of colour and crazy patterns. So I would watch them the window in my bedroom, sad when they finished, not able to get enough of the spectacle. And I don't think I ever will.