Fireworks go Boom

[Warmheart]

July 4th around here usually means neighbors in town set off a cacophony of private pyrotechnics displays.
The warm night air gets noisy, with random booming, ripping, crashing sounds during the night.
I am sitting up in bed with 2 pillows, my tablet, my dog and cat, and my stuffed pterodactyl.
Oh alright, also a stegosaurus, plesiosaur, and triceratops, but who's counting?
Before sleep, at some point, I'll need to (very briefly) take my dog out in the dark, noisy night to potty. He knows what to do, and will likely pee quickly so we can hurry back into the AutieCave.
Not my favorite time of year. Anyone else?

 

[Mia]

The cats are not happy, the previous Thursday and Friday were celebrations here, official fireworks and random personal fireworks. I'd much prefer a really rousing bit of thunder and lighting booming overhead, while feeling safe inside.

Somehow I can sleep during storms much better than during a fireworks volley. Yesterday was Canada day, so another round of fireworks both official and private. They sell packages of fireworks in gas stations, small stores, even saw some at a bakery I go to. Here's a toast with almond milk to an exploding birthday cake Warmheart

 

[clg114]

July 4th around here usually means neighbors in town set off a cacophony of private pyrotechnics displays.
The warm night air gets noisy, with random booming, ripping, crashing sounds during the night.
I am sitting up in bed with 2 pillows, my tablet, my dog and cat, and my stuffed pterodactyl.
Oh alright, also a stegosaurus, plesiosaur, and triceratops, but who's counting?
Before sleep, at some point, I'll need to (very briefly) take my dog out in the dark, noisy night to potty. He knows what to do, and will likely pee quickly so we can hurry back into the AutieCave.
Not my favorite time of year. Anyone else?

The noise has been going on every night for several nights. Our Chihuahuas do not know what is happening. Every little pop sends them running for the doggy door so they can go out and bark at the bad guys. If we close their door, all the barking stays inside. Monday night will be real bad and real late. I sure am glad it is only once a year.

We only have dogs to deal with. I can only imagine what it must be like with a dog, a cat, pterodactyl, a stegosaurus, a plesiosaur and triceratops.

 

[DogwoodTree]

I hate hearing the fireworks, but I think a lot of my anxiety over the past 14 years has been the effect it has on my kids' ability to sleep. Now that the youngest is old enough to sleep through it, it's not quite as stressful. I never liked them before I had kids, either, though.

We keep the thermostat in our house set pretty high, so we have fans running all through the house, and the white noise helps cover some of it up. Plus, the main fireworks-neighbors moved a couple of months ago. Maybe it'll be quieter this year!

 

[Warmheart]

The view from here. (Sorry it's a BUTT pic!)

 

[Mia]

Better than fireworks.

 

[Cali Cat]

I hate 4th of July, and so do my cats. The fireworks start early and end several weeks after the fact in this neighborhood. I really don't understand the mindset of people who like to set fire to things and watch them blow up. I mean fireworks can be pretty and everything, but do we really have to have it on an ongoing basis? Isn't one night enough? It used to be back whenever I was a child. The only thing my parents would let me light off before 4th of July where those smoking snake pellets and maybe a few sparklers.

Oh ... and I never could stand fireworks that were loud, whistling and popping. I hate firecrackers with a passion. I like the big fireworks shows where they explode way up in the sky so the sound is muffled.

I sort of wish cities would outlaw fireworks completely, since so many people seem to be irresponsible in their usage. It's not like they're useful for anything except annoying others, and possibly setting fire to property.

 

[Southern Discomfort]

I don't have a problem with the noise but it's the brightness of them. I remember going to a big fireworks display one year for Guy Fawkes and I could barely look up at the night sky it was so bright. It doesn't help that your eyes are now adjusted to the darkness anyway, but to see such a bright display was unbearable, I just kept looking down at the ground.

 

[Butterfly88]

I don't like fireworks either. My neighbor is also an aspie so I feel like our street should have a noise ban. But no such luck.

 

[Progster]

For me as a kid there were two major things that really freaked me out - one was thunder and lightning, the other a bird scaring cannon the local farmer had in the field next to my house. It used to go off at random, and one day it went off when I was very near it. I was terrified of going past it ever since. My family sometimes had one or two fireworks, but they didn't bother me as much as the cannon or the thunder storm because I could see my dad lighting them and I knew they were coming and braced myself. I like to watch fireworks from a distance where the noise isn't too loud, but I don't like these small firecrackers that kids have and set off in the street - I don't go out on New Years Eve because of them.

 

[tree]

As a child I loved fireworks, the big ones.
My grandfather was in the fire department and
was one of the men who set them off.

I liked the little stuff, too. Sparklers that I could
use and the Roman candles my father shot off.
Cherry bombs. M-80s. Whirly things.

I lit little fire crackers when I was big enough to use
matches. They were ok, but nowhere near as neat
as the displays of fireworks by the fire department
at the fair grounds.

I had a wonderfully realistic cap gun. I unintentionally
burned a hole in my pillow case shooting it "quietly"
in my bedroom. "Pearl" handle. Once my mother
shot my father with my cap gun and because it smoked,
he briefly thought she had actually shot a gun at him.

I don't mind the large fireworks booming.
It's those annoying little persistent 'snap, pop' things
that the summer people let their kids have that are
really distasteful. There is no rhythm to them. Just
obnoxious little 'snap...crack-snap' sounds.

Those are hard to take.
They bother the cats, too.

 

[Suzanne]

I am living in France and it is terrible for fireworks, because it is all year around. I hate them; so horribly, horribly loud and constantly jumping out of my skin!

In England, where I come from, they tended to only use them of the 5th of November and again, I hated them.

Ok, the colours are splended, but the noise is just awful and cannot wait for it to stop.

 

[Sully]

Since my neighborhood sounds like a war zone anyway, I'm taking the opportunity to make some noise that would normally result in a visit from the fuzz. I'm teaching my kids how to separate water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen gas using electrolysis. I made a PVC pipe with stainless steel plates inside connected to an automotive battery charger. The gas comes out a tube in the top and blows into a bucket of soapy water. Even a handful of the explosive bubbles will send a shock wave through your chest. I think tomorrow I will fill a trash bag with the gas and see what happens when I ignite it.

My kids and I all had hearing protection at the fireworks display tonight. I like to feel the noise, but not hear it.

 

[tachyon]

I don't mind the deep boom of the big ones, but find the snap & pop of the smaller ones (like tree) quite aggravating.

While they do look pretty, I really like the 'smell' of the fireworks

 

[Nitro]

I love the thunderous booms of professional fireworks and even like to blow stuff up myself
The tiny pops and bangs are just silly to me and a mild annoyance.
When I want to turn my devilishness all the way up,I use my oxy-acetelyne torch as a fuel supply for what is probably the most percussion I have ever experienced on a home based level. Might be part of why I have a hearing loss. The other part was probably from exposing myself to loud machinery,firearms,music and high performance vehicles

 

[Mary Terry]

I live in the country in peace and quiet most of the time and have pet donkeys who tend to stampede when the fireworks start. I lock them in a small pasture next to my house to keep them away from the road in case any idiots toss firecrackers from cars as they drive by which has happened in the past. My dog and cats hate the noise and confusion, too.

I used to shoot fireworks when I was young and do enjoy them. Nowadays, I prefer to watch the celebration on TV.

Happy Birthday, America!

 

[Coupe]

My family and I are actually out of town near a lake area for the next couple of days, and we plan to watch the fireworks on a nearby beach when the grandparents arrive (that's the current plan, anyway). I don't really mind fireworks normally (except for when they're set off in or around residential areas too soon in advance - *looks meaningfully in both directions of the country clubs our home neighborhood is sandwiched between*) but I've been so on edge this week (harder to tolerate continuous loud noise/music, it's really cold in the house, I wish I could sleep in MY bed at home) that I plan to bring plenty of stim toys and my pink headphones to the beach with me.

About the pink headphones - I finally decided one day that I did need some kind of noise-cancelling headphones (my earbuds weren't hacking it anymore) but didn't want to pay upwards of $30 for a pair of them (I would only need them when things were too loud - and for me, "too loud" is a relative term) so I dug around in some of my many boxes of random old stuff I can't bear to throw away and found some pink headphones that I bought on sale once and ended up not using for music. I cut the cord off them and added some cute little Keroppi stickers to the sides.

Warmheart I like the idea of the stuffed dinosaurs...sounds like you have a really cool collection of them! My favorite Disney Tsum Tsums will probably be accompanying me to any fireworks displays too. I got a Dory Tsum recently who's become a comfort item for me and she keeps loneliness, intrusive thoughts and sensory overload at bay like none of the other Tsums can (Sadness helps with anxiety, Dumbo helps me sleep better, and Marlin's job is mostly to make sure they all behave XD).

....Presenting my makeshift fireworks/socialization self care kit for tonight:

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...Our dog doesn't like fireworks much either (she came with us), so she'll be staying here at the house we're staying at. I hope the fireworks are far enough away so they don't frighten her too much. :c

Stay safe tonight, everyone! <3

 

[Warmheart]

Awesome stim toys, sensory stuff, and grounding objects, Coupe! I have a Tamgle, too-- LOVE it!
I loooooove those Tsums! Like how each helps with different things. Awesome coping tools! I love Sadness, I always want to hug her. Best part of Inside Out is at the end when Sadness smiles confidently, being needed, appreciated, and finally growing into herself so she gets to use her strengths for the greater good. Yeah!

Yes, my Dinos really help. Some are big so they are for cuddling in bed. Others are medium, and go to stressful appointments in my backpack.

That looks like a friendly amethyst. Cool! I have a few stones who are in my family, too.

 

[Catlover614]

I love big, bold, and beautiful fireworks shows, but hate when obnoxious drunks get involved with their black-cat pranks!

 

[Dirtdigger]

I hate the ones that shoots up in the air and the really loud exploding ones as well and they are all around my house as well as the neighbor houses especially with pets being frighten. In my state we have an state wide prohibition on these kinds of Fireworks, but our fire marshal is trying to pull stuff on us who hate fireworks ignoring this ordinance. But, I have a feeling his problems started last year by completely prohibiting all kinds of fireworks in 2015 which explains why I didn't hear any other than our 4th of July Fireworks show at the park each year. I was onto this situation pretty quick when I realized he was trying to pull something and let the police department know. He should have gotten an education on illegal and legal fireworks before prohibiting them all.