Fireworks!

I love fireworks - growing up I think I anticipated Guy Fawkes evening with even more excitement than Christmas.

During the day mum would help me and my brothers make a Guy to burn (although when I was older and found out WHY we burnt a Guy I was kind of creeped out by it - but it was all good fun in the days of my innocent youth), then we'd help Dad collect wood and build up a bon fire and when it finally go dark Dad would like the fireworks and us kids would have sparklers.

The anticipation of each firework being lit was almost too much the handle - the joy when they lit up crazy colours and the surprise when it was one of those screaming ones and the disappointment when one of the fireworks was what Dad referred to as a "Fizzer" (put on a bit of a poor show or just didn't work).

But over the years the number of fireworks have diminished - when I was really young they banned double happy's. I remember this well as Dad bought up large and kept a pretty big stash in his writing desk which we gradually used up.

Next it was our friends the sky rockets - which I loved - especially when Dad would light a whole bunch at once.

I think other sorts have also been banned - sadly I haven't lit a firework in many years. Since moving in with Rich we have been confined to small units and apartments with no gardens or room for fireworks. But we are lucky enough to live in Wellington where the council does put on a beautiful fireworks display.

Public displays are all good - but they aren't the same as getting the whole family together in the back garden.

For years and years I've been against the idea of banning all fireworks. Not only is it a good chance for families to get together and have a laugh it's one of the few celebrations that hark back to my English (ok actually Cornish but close enough) roots.

Most other celebrations have been nicked from someone else but Guy Fawkes - even though it's kind of creepy in some ways - was mine! A celebration of my history! Of where I came from! It hadn't been commercialised and made tacky - it was just about the family getting together and lighting some fireworks in the back garden.

I was against the banning of Guy Fawkes because I refused to believe that as a country we were actually needed to have fireworks taken away from us - I mean - surely we're not that irresponsible?

But in the words of many a primary school teacher "One person's silliness will ruin this for everyone"!

On Friday night Rich and I were walking past the Mill Liquor Save - one of the flats at the top were having a party - nothing too unusual there...then we realised they were firing a Roman candle out of the window of the flat and down onto the street and the road. I'm not talking about silly 12 year olds here - I'm talking about people in their 20's who know that they are being MORONS!

Anyways, as we are walking along and thinking that this whole thing isn't too flash - they start aiming the fireworks on the foot path where we are walking. I'm going to give these moron's the benefit of the doubt and assume they were not trying to hit us directly and only trying to scare us. But either way - it's an incredibly stupid thing to do.

It was at that moment I realised that as a nation - we are too stupid to have fireworks and yes the government should take them away. We obviously can't be trusted. It's a pretty sad conclusion to come too after all these years of having a love affair with fireworks.