The Fireworks Fizzle

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I won a drawing for a huge package of fireworks. I was very excited to finally break into them and put on a show for the family who were going to come over for the 24th...a state holiday in Utah honoring Utah's pioneer heritage.
We had a fun time with our dinner and visiting, though if  I did it again, I'd bag the idea of using pre-made boxed hamburger patties, and use fresh ground beef to make our own patties. Those from that box tasted like cardboard. All the other food was good though, and we topped it off with our first attempt at home-made chocolate peanut butter gelato, along with tried and true vanilla ice cream in the hand-crank ice cream maker.
Then came time for the fireworks display. I could tell that many of the items in the package were fountains, but as I got further into it, I found that there wasn't a single firework in the entire package (suggested retail value $1000) that shot up into the air. Now some fountains can be cool, but they can get boring after a while. I should've realized it and figured it out sooner, only I kept believing that amongst this huge package, at least some of them would shoot into the sky. Unfortunately no. We shot off about half the package before everyone got bored...the grandkids had stopped watching at least twenty minutes before the end and had begun chasing each other around the yard. Several other people in the crowd were watching the sky rockets being shot off in the neighborhood, instead of the fountains in front of our house. Still I had to remind myself that I hadn't spent a dime on these things, and that those people who kept shooting things up in the air had spent a bunch of money to do it. It was a small consolation, but I learned that bright packaging doesn't mean that it's all it's cracked up to be.
So, I have half of them left. I can't think of a time when I'm going to want to watch a bunch of fountains. I'm thinking of selling them on KSL in the next day or two. And then I'll buy with the proceeds, at least one firework that will shoot up into the air and go "boom", for New Year's Eve.
All in all though it was great to be with my family members and have them all able to come. That's a rarity these days and I'm extremely grateful for it.

Weekend Booty

So far, over the weekend, I won the drawing for the huge package of fireworks from one of our local grocery stores, Reams, and finished second in my age category in the Sandy 5k on the 4th, earning a medal. Quite a haul for one weekend.
All the fireworks prize took was to enter and luckily have my name drawn out. It's a great prize, and I'm excited to use it. I didn't use it on Independence Day because not all of my children and grandchildren could come over, but there's a little Utah holiday called "Pioneer Day" on July 24th. That's when that big package of fireworks will be lit.
I was even more excited about reaching my goal of finishing in the top five in my age group for the 5k. I finished second in my group, which is actually my highest ever in any of the particular age groups I've been in throughout my history of running 5ks. That didn't represent luck. Well, not that much any way. It's possible that only two people entered in my age group. In that case, I also was last place in my group. I don't think that happened though. I saw quite a few men who looked like they might be around my age.
The thing that makes the 5k different from the fireworks is that one required effort and practice, and the other required giving myself the opportunity to win by entering. Of course, if I wouldn't have entered the race, I wouldn't have finished second in my group, but it required a bit more than that. It required training  and to keep running even when I felt like stopping after a couple of miles. It also required a God-given sound body, and a desire to remain strong and healthy in order to continue to do the things I love to do throughout my life.
The bottom line is, when you win something because of the work you've put into it, it's much more rewarding than winning something by chance.

Here's a quickly thrown together picture of me and my weekend winnings.

Here is an outtake video. This one was made by mistake when my son-in-law, Justin, was figuring out the camera settings. Watch it for humor if nothing else. Also, unseen on any of the pics or video was the firework box toppling toward Justin (who was sitting on the floor trying to get a good pic). He was having trouble with the camera and as I moved forward to assist, suddenly the box fell directly toward him. It is not a  light box and would've hurt to have it land on him. As luck would have it, or divine intervention, my music stand was pushed aside right there and took the entire weight of the falling fireworks, saving Justin in the process. I couldn't quite catch it myself, as I'm not really Captain America.