I photo the firework

That was the placeholder text in this draft post when I opened it up — I have no memory of typing it — and it’s better than any long-winded description I can craft.

Folks, I really look forward to this every year. I’m glad this is still happening.

Here are some photos of fireworks in 2015.

If you’d like to enjoy the previous years in this rich and increasingly impossible tradition, here you go:

Happy 4th (2007), Yay! Fireworks! (2008), Yay! Fireworks! 2009!, Yay! Fireworks 2010! (on Flickr!?), Yay! 4th of July Fireworks 2011!, Yay! 4th of July Fireworks 2012!, Yay! 2013 4th of July Fireworks!, and finally, Yay! 4th of July Fireworks: 2014.

And of course, to properly set the scene of what it’s like to visit these competitive firework stands, please watch this classic and old video, The Gauntlet (YouTube).

Let’s do this.

Before We Begin…

My favorite sign from last year had been slightly modified:

This year there was a rich bounty of…

Policy

Things I Had To Google

(Bonus points for Back To The Future font)

Awkward Animals

Gross

Brand New Movie Sequels!!

This Guy

Where Twitter Trolls Come From

Proud Support For, You Know, Awareness

A DUCK ELIMINATOR

My College Nickname

Bruce Springsteen (R.I.P.)

A Small Hadron Collider

And a Whole Lot More.

            

Also, Who Wants Two Tickets To The Rod Show

Phew.

I’d say this year’s batch turned out 2 be……

Thank you for joining me for another year. See you in 2016?!

This year’s miscellaneous notes: I brought my one year old (Violet) and six year old (Joby) with me (something I couldn’t have imagined when I started this project), Joby jumped in a dusty bouncy castle the whole time, I got yelled at for taking photos (“the phones have static electricity that could ignite the fireworks!!!” but another employee admitted they’re afraid of competition spying on them), my co-worker Logan Collins contributed a couple great photos from Kansas, Blackjack Fireworks continues to sell their awesome and almost certainly not-legal “adult pop-its” (basically throwable firecrackers, tucked next to the front counter for easy the-jig-is-up hiding?) but TNT finally caught wind and sells them too (in a very small section on the side), my secret third source for photos is a reliable fireworks stand on 82nd by Krispy Kreme, and most importantly, firework companies continue to do their crazy thing. Thanks to the hard-working anonymous artists.