Glorious Night

Living in a resort area does have its rewards.
But not what you think.

MV Times

During the summer we get, not one, not two,  but three sets of awesome fireworks here on the Island.
Starting off - fireworks for Summer Solstice.
Next up - July 4th fireworks over Edgartown Harbor - which sometimes get fogged out.
And last night.
The Big Kahuna.
The Oak Bluffs Fireman's Association Fireworks.

By Jenn Wiggins

All summer long you see the fire guys out on the corner of Circuit and New York Ave., most summer weekends, taking in donations and selling t-shirts to fund the end-of-the-season explosive extravaganza.
It's hot. It's humid.
But there they are, with one cause in mind - the OB Fireworks.

And lest you think these are some small time pop-offs, think again.

This tiny organization puts on one of the best displays of fireworks in the region!
I would compare their show to a JackAss episode, but not for the reasons you think.
It's professional, it's colorful, it's loud and it's CLOSE with a Capitol C.
Staged slightly (and when I say slightly I mean SLIGHTLY) offshore opposite Ocean Park, with its Victorian Bandstand, old-fashioned boat pond and a lush, green acreage surrounded by Old School, Big-A** summer houses of the old-time rich and famous.

If you sit at the front edge of the park abutting the beach road and the Steamship docks, you are in what we like to call the "fallout" zone.
As in watch-out-you'll-get-your-freakin'-clothes-ignited-with-ash zone.
This gets filled in first lol.

As the show unfolds, it's everything you expect in a local fireworks show.
It's got pyrotechnic stars, ground salutes, waterfalls, even a drunkin' man toddling and weaving his way across the firey ground.

But wait! There's more!
Huge roman candles!
Peonies! Chrysanthemums! Dalhias! And all the colors of the combustible garden of fireworks.
They have Willows.  Yes, those spherical breaks of colors that turn silver-white and trail like a weeping willow tree. The kind you go "Ahhhhhhhh" to.

And they have Kamuros. As I live and breathe. You may not recognize its formal Japanese name - meaning "boy's haircut."  This is not your brother's buzz-cut by any stretch of the imagination. You can recognize it by its dense burst of a glittery gold or silver ball, stars leaving a ponderously heavy trail of glitter behind as they fall.

And those SPIDERS! The "OOOOOOOO" factor!

by Charles Kernick/MVTimes

Anyway, last night was the fireworks. And they did not disappoint.


The ground rumbled.
The skies lightened.
The crowd oooooh'd.
The mortars boomed.

At last! A chance to hold summer before you, until it reaches a fever pitch of light and sound, and heavy clouds of gunpowder and sulphur hanging in the air a minute longer... then the echoing to silence the only thing you hear.

 And...the crowd erupts in hooting and hollering.
And the horns honk their approval along the beach road.

Have a good one. :)

A Grand Illumination

Night of Wonders, really.
Once a summer, the tiny, mostly seasonal community of Victorian cottages here on the island celebrate the closing summer through a magical tradition, Illumination Night.

A little back story.
This community of small gingerbread-style houses originated over 150 years ago.

First a religious summer settlement.

Then it grew. Tents once pitched for a week, became tents with wood siding standing, and grew to cottages that still endure. Despite wind, water, hurricanes and progress, the cottages remain much the same today.

Illumination Night, once held to mark the then Govenor of Massachusetts' visit over a century ago, now means something entirely different, but equally momentous. The colorful Chinese, Japanese and handmade lanterns line the eves and porches of the carpenter-gothic style cottages for just one evening a summer.

In the center of it all,  an open air, ironwork building, the Tabernacle, stands and is surrounded by a lush and peaceful park setting.

Many events take place in the Tabernacle over the summer, but none so important to the community, the culture, the island as Illumination Night.

Preparation is feverish. Will it rain? Will the old lanterns hold up, one more time? Will the electrical cords reach?

On Illumination Night, a traditional band concert and community sing start off the festivities.






And when it is just dark enough, the oldest member of the community steps forward to light the first lantern of the evening. Then... magic!

From the tops of the original tent poles to the gardens below, glowing fireflies of lights twinkle - some candle-lit, others electrically charged.

Crowds follow the lights around the circle of cottages, like moths to a gentle flame - taken in by the awe, the wonder, the aura of something never known, but instinctively felt.


Yes, it is the essence of summer.  Days spent at the beach, nights spent under the stars. Of family visitations, vacations of a lifetime. Of a weekend's respite from the heat radiating from the asphalt sidewalks of the city. That last snatch of childhood, held like a dancing firefly, in the palm of the hand.

And then... let go.
The local fire engine rounds the circle, letting the cottages know, it's time to close up shop.




For the night, the week, for the summer....

Have a good one. :)

Beachglass Kind of Summer

That's what you get when you live on an island.
Everyone coming here wants it.
And we have it. :)

Excitement like the last day of school.
Anticipation of the entire summer off.
The joy of being the first one.
The first one to spy that prized piece beach-combing, jumping forward, grabbing for the brass ring.
The first one to run slap-dash into icy cold waters. No matter what.
The first one to yell "Ollie, Ollie, In Come Free!" dashing for the tree.
And later, the first one to get that Summer Kiss.

On the watch for every opportunity to feel the bonds of summer.
The hot sun baking you dry while you lie on a sandy, sea-swollen beach towel.
Best bud at your side.
Keen on savoring every feeling of every last minute of every last day.
Eking the last drops of sunlight to play as hard as you can, spilling over into darkness for kick-the-can, statue, freeze tag on the lawn.

Like beach glass, it's a frosty, rounded around the edges, filtered view by memory, been-around-forever-like-those-worn-Keds kind of feel.
Listening at the water's edge for the ocean lap, like a good playlist against our mind.
The chance to reconnect with youth, simplicity and the kind of life we thought possible, once when we were young.

Feeling just like we are at the cottage, the camp, the cabin once again, no matter where we are.
Can you capture that feeling again?
Try.
It's here.
You only have to come get it.

It's there.
You only have to feel it.
With a little help from your memory and the dare to let go.
One. More. Time.

 

Have a good one. :)