In retrospect, it was a...

In retrospect, it was a pretty stupid way to celebrate the Fourth of July. My friends from the neighborhood, armed with as many firecrackers and pop bottle rockets as we could carry, invaded my grandmother’s back yard. And blew stuff up.

We blasted ant hills. Exploded gopher holes. Decimated grandmother’s flower beds and her tomato plants and her strawberry patch. Then we plucked crab apples, stuffed firecrackers into the mushy worm holes and tossed the makeshift hand grenades high into the air. BOOM. Splat. It rained apple butter.

But times changed. For one thing, it got tougher and tougher to find a decent soda pop bottle (aluminum-can rockets just didn’t cut it). And, of course, there was that incident with the boy down the street who now has a glass eye.

Eventually, everyone wised up about the danger of Fourth of July fireworks. States passed strict regulations about the sale of explosive materials, and many cities began emphasizing large pyrotechnic displays instead. In the 1990s, dumb and dangerous is out; safe and spectacular is in.

Speaking of spectacular, one of the best and brightest (and biggest) of the annual fireworks displays is scheduled for 9 p.m. Thursday at the Queen Mary and Spruce Goose in Long Beach. Co-sponsored by the city of Long Beach, this year’s musical pyrotechnics show will be part of Operation Desert Salute festivities, honoring those who served in the Persian Gulf.

The free display can be seen (and heard) throughout the coastal area near Long Beach, but those people wanting an up-close look can take advantage after 6 p.m. of a discounted admission price to the Queen Mary. For more information, call 435-3511.

And so the days of the mad bombers of junior high are long gone. I guess it’s for the best. My grandmother certainly thinks so.