Magical Fireworks

There is something magical about fireworks that I just love.  During the Queen's Birthday celebrations last week, each night ended with a beautiful display of fireworks.   Fireworks which I could see from my balcony.  Each day's display differing slightly from the other.  I'd stop whatever I was doing and just look out the window with a grin on my face, like a child eyeing candy at a store.

I don't know what it is, but it could be the sound of fireworks sizzling up into the air before a little "bang" sends streams of sparkling light down all around you that touches my inner child.  It brings me back to the time when I first really witnessed fireworks and felt how extraordinarily wonderful they were.  I remember, I was in Luxembourg during the Grand Duke's Birthday Celebrations.

Every year it is celebrated on the 23rd June when the leaves are green and the air is fresh.  Summer is just around the corner and everyone is out and about.  Schools are out and everyone is getting ready for the holidays.  The festive atmosphere is everywhere.  The usually quiet streets of Luxembourg City were full of people walking, laughing and just having a good old time.  I do remember thinking to myself then, people in Luxembourg are so clean.  Not a single litter was spotted on the busy streets.

Being one of the smallest countries in the world and 890 feet above sea level it is like a little escape.  The walled city is perched atop a cliff that falls down to the Alzette and Pétrusse rivers, dating from the times of the Romans. 

Just before sunset, the firework displays begin.

It's magical not because its fireworks, but because of how you experience it.  Standing in the old city overlooking the rivers, there is this immense sky that stands before you.  Nothing blocks your view.  You are high above the rivers and down below is a valley.  Suddenly, from the valley, fireworks flare up into the sky and burst into an array of sparkling twinkly light. 

Standing in the dark night sky you suddenly find yourself blanketed by a stream of sparkling lights as fireworks burst above your head.  For a second you forget those around you and just savour the moment. 

You feel like you are in a magical place.  The sort of place you can only find in your dreams.

It must have been around two decades ago now, but the memory still makes me smile everytime I think of it. Everytime I see fireworks.

It's great to be a child.  Even as grown ups and adults, one should never forget what it is like to be a child.  If you feel that life is horrible and nasty, look at the world through a child's eye and feel the awe and wonderous things that surround us.  Not just some sparkling lights, fireworks are a ticket to a magical place....  A place for you and me.