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Topic: PUNCH (08/27/20)
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TITLE: Kaboom! | Previous Challenge Entry
By Barbara Culler
09/03/20 -
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Arriving late afternoon the day before the meetings, I settled into my hotel room, then began to explore the environment. While meandering through the rose garden, I met up with a fellow attendee, and we decided to have a leisurely dinner before watching the evening’s highly touted fireworks show.
After a short heavy-with-traffic drive, we spent too much time searching for a place to park, then walked a half-mile to our destination. The streets and sidewalks swarmed with people of all ages; the atmosphere electric with anticipation of what was to come.
Pat and I dined at the Italian restaurant overlooking the water. Because of delays in dealing with traffic, parking, and waiting to get served, we knew we would run out of time to finish the meal before showtime. However, we were seated near the wall of windows looking out onto the bay, so we could still see the action when it started.
Billed as the “Big Bay Boom,” the widely advertised annual show takes place on the water, where four strategically arranged barges shoot off their designated explosives. The fireworks on each boat are programmed to choreograph with patriotic music for an 18-minute extravaganza.
Believing we still had about five minutes before the program was to commence, we were deep in conversation, when suddenly the room shook with a loud boom, then began vibrating. I thought that it was an earthquake, but in actuality, the pyrotechnics show had prematurely begun.
It started with a literal bang, and then it packed a punch -- appearing more like the finale than the opening act. Seeming like three of the boats on the bay had been struck by torpedoes, massive geysers of predominately brilliant white light pummeled the sky before spilling colorful sparks into the bay.
The diners ceased eating; their forks suspended midair as the inside lights went dim. For the next few seconds, the blue-black sky lit up like spotlights at a movie premiere. Flashes of green and red bounced around the dining room, as the thunderous noise from the bay grew in intensity. As sudden as it began, the spectacular display fizzled and was no more, filling the room with stunned silence.
Thinking this was just a teaser, we completed our meal, then rushed out to the boardwalk to wait for the official show to start. It never did, although the piped-in music still played. What we witnessed from inside the restaurant was the entire 18-minute show packed into 15 seconds. We later learned that a computer glitch resulted in the simultaneous explosions of all the fireworks. Despite the technical malfunction, the thrill of those few seconds of breathtaking fireworks was incredible.
Although my conference was fun, it cannot compete with memories of the event I witnessed that Fourth of July on the bay in San Diego, California. The Big Bay Boom of 2012 will go down in history as the “Big Kaboom.” And I was there.
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