I guess I am a little late, I should have posted this on the 4th of July. I guess that living in a very humid and wet state has made me forget about the dangers of fire associated with fireworks. We went to a couple parties. One of those parties included a ton of sparklers for the little kids, some of which were running around in bare feet. This reminded me, not that I needed much reminder, of when I stepped on a recently used phosphorus sparkler. It hurt pretty bad, and now when I see a kid with a sparkler and no shoes I cringe.

So, back to the story! (By the way, I'm not sure anyone knows I was responsible for this, there are a few stories to come in future blogs that will feature stories that no one knows about. I feel that enough time has expired to keep myself from getting into trouble- the statute of limitations has expired!) It was the 4th of July and we were out in front of the house lighting off a mixture of legal and illegal fireworks. I think I was about 5 years old at the time. It was great fun! We had flowers, tanks, bottle rockets, and sparklers. I was waving a sparkler around, writing my name in the dark evening. I was having a good ol time. It had been a little dry that summer, no more than usual for Salt Lake, but it hadn't rained in a couple weeks. Our neighbors across the street didn't take care of their lawn and it had grown all spring without being mowed. Combined with the dry climate his yard was a nice tenderbox waiting for my just burnt out sparkler.


I had gone on my way after tossing my sparkler over their fence. Some of the adults noticed that smoke had started to come from the neighbor's otherwise empty yard. Soon flames were visible as their dry grass became fuel for my sparkler which was still clinging to some semblance of purpose, beit destructive or entertaining.

While the adults were scrambling with their garden hoses and buckets I was trying to act cool, like the innocent boy I was. I felt bad at the moment, but I never said a word. The back spot in their yard was an improvement! Good ol sparklers!