As mentioned before, I love fireworks. July is fantastic in Utah because there is not only one firework holiday, but TWO! Yes, we celebrate the coming of the first settlers of Utah with more giant explosions in the sky. And more parades where taffy is thrown at your head. It’s the best. Our traditional pioneer day celebrations include a parade on Bountiful’s Main Street, then fireworks at a nearby junior high. It’s basically all of Bountiful moving from one point to another, and somehow you have to get there before the rest of the city does so you can get good parking. And once again, Bountiful does their stuff a day earlier than the actual holiday, which is the 24th.
This year we skipped the parade and started the evening instead by eating at the relatively-new-to-the-area Taste of India restaurant. It was spicily delicious. (Yes, that’s a word, my auto-correct didn’t underline it.) I would highly recommend it.
Afterwards we made our way up to the junior high and played games with my cousins until it got too dark to see. We experienced one of the most brilliant sunsets I’ve ever seen while we waited for the fireworks. It was almost better then the fireworks. Almost.
I’m grateful that the pioneers stopped in Utah. I love living in this desert landscape. Although sometimes I seriously think Brigham Young made the biggest mistake ever when he said to stop here; the people who continued on to California definitely had the last laugh. And I also think that a desert with a SALT lake wasn’t meant to support as many people as it does… The pioneers definitely had it rough. But I have a nice home to live in. I have air conditioning and cold water from the tap. I have the luxury to then enjoy the beautiful sagebrush stretching endlessly across the horizon. I love having mountains so close to hike, bike, run, or camp in. I love the beauty that surrounds the Wasatch Front during any season. (Though not so much the inversions in the winter.)
And, of course, I love remembering the pioneers by watching fireworks. 🙂
Oh! And the next day, my parents went to the Salt Lake City Pioneer Day parade, which is a smaller comparable version of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, I’m told, I should try going next year. And they made it on TV!
