Pop, Pop… Fizz, Fizz

At dusk we drive back to Battle Rock for the fireworks.

There’s a low-lying fog over the ocean and the air is cold.

People are buying hot coffee and cocoa from the vendors set up in the parking lot. The red, white, and blue Port Orford Jubilee Truck is parked there too and the announcer is getting revved up. We huddle up against the mosaic water fountain wall and people-watch. The town doesn’t get dark until 10 PM, so we wait, observe, and listen.

Soon, a woman arrives on a bike that she wedges next to the water fountain. Her voice is raspy and deep and she just starts talking out loud waiting for someone to share in her conversation. But she’s loud and a complainer. A man standing nearby starts conversing with her and soon we hear her whole life story and a running commentary about how the crowd this year is much smaller and ruder.

Then the announcer’s voice begins blaring as the fireworks begin. And continues blaring while the show proceeds. For $2 you can have him shoutout a hello to someone you care about.

Meanwhile the running commentary from the woman behind me continues as a blast of color fills the sky and we wait and wait for the next one to appear. She laughs, “Must be new guys setting them off this year!” (The fireworks are set off by the volunteer fire department.)

Jeff thinks the fog prevented the continual blasts because the firefighters had to wait for the air to clear.

I have to be honest; the fireworks were a bust. They fizzled out and there was little variety.

But they did not ruin an otherwise spectacular day!