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| Angelika/Mike Schilli |
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Angelika On July 4th, the United States are celebrating their national holiday. It is the day that the United States declared its independence from England in 1776, stopped paying taxes to England, and began to govern itself. Most American holidays fall on a Monday. However, Independence Day is always tied to the date of July 4th. This year, the fourth happened to fall on a Monday, giving everyone a long weekend. Independence Day is also the holiday when there are parades and fireworks in even the smallest towns. Traditionally, people also set off fireworks privately and shoot rockets into the sky, just like in Germany on New Year's Eve. However, this year, due to the severe drought in the American West, many communities officially banned private fireworks to reduce the risk of fire. San Francisco had an official fireworks display, which, as always, disappeared in the fog. That, too, is a tradition on July 4th.
But aside from that, the city strictly prohibited private fireworks beforehand. Or course, that didn't stop many people from firing rockets anyway. It was like the Wild West and it lasted almost all night. I never liked fireworks. I was always glad when it was over on New Year's Eve and nobody had lost a finger. Michael, on the other hand, was known as a fireworks master in his youth.
If you, like us, had experienced multiple raging forest fires in California, you'd be trembling all over and be hoping that nothing will catch fire. This year alone, there were several fires, all caused by illegal rockets or fireworks in the city. One was right around the corner from us on Twin Peaks Hill, and we could see the smoke from our balcony. Thank God the fire department arrived quickly and was able to put it out, but I don't even want to imagine what could have happened.
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