Too Hot for Fireworks?

Fireworks (Photo credit: bcmom)

We always go to the fireworks on the 4th of July.  Except for that year they shot them off on the 3rd, and we didn't know they'd changed the date until we showed up on the 4th, only to find the place deserted.  But other than that, we always go.  We really enjoy watching fireworks.

This year we decided not to go.  It was just plain too hot.  The temperature in Milwaukee got up over 100° today, with very high humidity.  The highest previous temperature on the 4th of July was 98, back in 1990.  Yeah, on a day like this, even someone like me who doesn't usually appreciate air conditioning can be thankful for it.  It hasn't been that hot in Milwaukee, on any day, for 17 years.  It hasn't been this hot since before we moved to Wisconsin.  Summers in Wisconsin are usually very very comfortable. 

We just couldn't find the energy or motivation to leave home to go sit outside in the heat, with no shade (until the sun went down), and wait for the fireworks.  So we stayed home and watched fireworks on tv.  They're not quite the same.  OK, they're not really the same at all, but we didn't have to go anywhere.  We watched both the New York City show and the Boston show.  They were both good, but I like Boston's the best.  New York had Kenny Chesney performing on a rooftop though.

While we're talking about fireworks, here's a video I put together last year - when we saw fireworks both on July 3rd in Milwaukee and July 4th in Waukesha.  These are the Milwaukee ones.

Fireworks (Photo credit: bcmom)

It turned out to be a good thing we didn't go to the fireworks after all.  The show had to be stopped because of a grass fire - so we wouldn't have been able to see the whole show if we had gone.  That would have been just plain frustrating.

Anyway, I hope you all had a great 4th of July, whether you stayed in and chilled like us or picnicked, partied, and enjoyed your local fireworks.  Happy Birthday, America.

I Love Fireworks

We went with Beth and Tim to the lakefront to see Milwaukee's fireworks last Sunday evening.  The family Tim lived with for a while goes every year.  They get there early, set up tents, bring the grill and lots of food, and spend the day.  We'd never gone before.  We didn't spend the day, just went in the evening - still with plenty of time to hang out before it was time for the fireworks.

The fireworks were awesome!  They shoot them off from three different barges out in the water, and they have something, usually several, continuously in the air for a whole hour.  I didn't get nearly all of it, but I just couldn't resist taking some video with my cell phone.  I would have used my other camera, but the battery decided to die.  Also, I really should have played with the camera settings on the phone, because the video is really small, I can only shoot 30 seconds of video at a time, and there was no sound.  Sound would  have been nice because we were hearing not just the fireworks, but the echos off the buildings behind us.  But, I used Windows Live Movie Maker to put the videos together and added some music, and they're still fun to watch, because they're fireworks, and I love fireworks.




After copying the video from my phone and playing with it last night, I adjusted the settings on my phone.  Why I didn't think of that before, I don't know.  I knew how to change from camera to camcorder, but I had never looked beyond that to realize there are lots of other settings I can play with.  The settings were optimized for sending from my phone and sharing on other phones, which I guess makes sense, but I don't really do a lot of that.  I'd rather have better quality videos - maybe they'll even go longer than 30 seconds at a time and have sound.  I haven't tried it yet, but we'll see.