Be Considerate With Fireworks!

My fellow Americans love to celebrate our nation's birth by blowing stuff up. I don't mind fireworks at all. I love watching them, especially the ones at Disney World. But most firework displays only last an hour so even if you don't like the bangs it's only a limited time.

At least it is if you don't have neighbors who are dicks. Sad to say, I have some neighbors who were real dicks last year. 

As long time readers of my blog know, I suffer from chronic migraines. Logically big bangs and migraines don't really mix. Some firework noises don't bother me too much, but I have my limits.

Last year, my neighbors shot off fireworks that I'm sure were illegal. It sounded like bombs were going off outside my bedroom window for hours at a time. And they did it on both July 3rd and July 4th. I was in so much pain and really twitchy for probably close to a week afterwards.

My poor Willow cat was really upset too. She hates loud noises a lot so she spent the holiday cowering in fear in our bathroom. It was very unpleasant for us. While I was in pain, I thought about any veterans who might live in our neighborhood. PTSD is a real concern for a lot of people.

I was a little afraid that my neighbors would be shooting off fireworks last night but I'm super thankful that they didn't since I'm working today. I have tomorrow and Monday off so I can hibernate with earbuds if need be.

But if you, kind person, decide to shoot off some fireworks remember that the noise might not be welcome by your neighbors. So try to keep it short and use legal fireworks. I, for one, will be not shooting off fireworks but we are going to do sparklers in our back yard.

Drunken Fireworks

This past weekend, The United States of America celebrated its' independence. Many people enjoyed a long weekend off and had BBQ's and lit sparklers. And some people got really drunk and lit explosives. One man even died after he lit a firework that was on top of his head.

I like fireworks. I like watching them, especially at Disney World. But I did not enjoy any fireworks this weekend at all.

I had spent most of the week in a migraine flare that I really tried to manage by resting. We didn't have any plans for the holiday and Todd volunteered to work overtime on Friday and Saturday. Friday night, I was sitting and relaxing in my bedroom when my neighbors started shooting fireworks off.

The fireworks were super loud and sounded more like cannon fire. From the sound of them, there weren't fireworks you would have bought at Walmart. I'm pretty sure that they were illegal.

Friday night, they set them off for hours and the bangs were louder than the show I was watching. My pain levels rose and I even started having a panic attack. My cats were freaked out too and after every bang I could her a chorus of dogs barking in the distance.

I was super sick on Saturday because of it and spent most of the day in bed. I came up with plan to take my abortive migraine medicine and go to bed as soon as I had gotten Emily into bed. But they had started shooting off fireworks before the sun even went down. I took my meds but it still took me a long time to go to sleep because of the war being waged outside.

Todd came home from work at 11 pm and he said that they were still shooting off fireworks of the distantly illegal kind when he got home.

I don't want to be a party pooper but it was a rough weekend for me. I wish my neighbors would have stuck to just Saturday for their fireworks displays and I really hope we don't have any veterans' who live in our neighborhood. As awful as it was for me, I can't imagine how it would be for someone with PTSD.

Next year, I'll be prepared with noise canceling headphones. Thankfully it didn't wake Emily up either night.