Things Go Boom

As you can tell from the eloquent title, I'll start with a bit of an update on fireworks. It hasn't been bad around here yet but I'm expecting Wednesday through Sunday night will come with a lot more.

I don't begrudge people the joy of celebration or fireworks. I've never been a big fan of haunted houses or fireworks because I can't seem to avoid panic attacks with the combination of flashing lights and loud noises. I've been that way since I was a kid, no matter how much my parents tried to acclimate me. I've been to haunted houses and fireworks shows with friends, and earplugs help. They don't completely drown out sounds; I have very sensitive ears so it just muffles things enough to calm me. What I can't stand still are those damn mortar shells that are all noise. Although there hasn't been any of that yet, I often have to stay sitting or lying down, because my legs will give out when noise is too loud. It's not something I can control. Let's face it though; the more amateurs drink, the worse the danger too. Even though it's illegal in Ohio, occasionally people take the risk and set them off in my neighborhood. This time of year, it's hot as hell, but I have to shut off my AC and cover the vents or I'm choking on straight sulfur all night.

By all means, I'm all for people going to professional shows or, hell, even going out to some rural area and setting them off. I don't at all like it close to home though. It's a fire hazard, makes the air unbreathable and it's dangerous. Plenty of war veterans and autistic children also would like the choice not to go into panic for your fun. In this area alone, we have Red, White and Blue Ash, the Mt.  Healthy fireworks show and Arlington Cemetary does a show too. The last two are both visible from my house, at that. Both are done by hired professionals and not close enough to be problematic.

Again, not out to ruin anyone's fun, but it's not fun for everyone and I hope people can come to respect that more over time. 

I didn't actually want to say too much on the topic; mostly wanted to run a little update.

Did some house cleaning today and went through some of my mom's things. It doesn't really get that much easier. Years have passed since she died, but there's a numbness that still causes a lump in my throat, an eagerness to laugh and the threat of tears. But I found some crafty stuff and some old dolls I'd like to refurbish. I'm still struggling to write or draw in anything but short bursts, so I'm poking at crafting. I got some more practice doll heads in the mail and Erin, my sister, gave me some acrylics I can use for painting the faces. I still haven't gotten the supplies I need to do the wig caps, but I don't need to do wigs prior to painting.

Painting is not my strong suit. I'm not the sort of artist that likes the feel or mess of paint. This is also fine work and my hands do tend to tremble, so I'll have to use light quick strokes and likely need to start over quite a bit before I get the hang of it. New crafts can be like that so no biggie. I rarely ever end up making a disaster of it.

Obviously, the chance of fireworks kind of halts any sort of finer work in the evenings, but it's a few days where I just have to find something else to do. 

I absolutely do dream of having some secluded craft shack to retreat to in the future, but right now, I've been spending nearly every penny I make on establishing myself as an author/illustrator/crafter so there's no budget for saving up for some acreage and a quaint little mini house just yet. The idea of scaling up crafting to renovate a house is pretty exciting too though. Something to work for...