Frequent fireworks, wonderment fizzles

It’s painful to admit, but living in Lakeshore East for eight years has made me a bit jaded about fireworks. “Oh, are there fireworks? It must be a Wednesday.” The ubiquitous nature of the spectacle has dulled its impact. But last summer I found a way to make them fun again.

I still remember my very first fireworks extravaganza: Fourth of July in Fort Benning, Georgia. I was six years-old, and I stared at the sky with my mouth open, shouting gleefully every time one of those fireworks sent its lazy tendrils look like a weeping willow tree back towards the earth. Sure, I had a sore neck and an eye full of ash, but I didn’t care. This was the greatest invention of all time. I would never get bored with fireworks; I just wished I could see them more often.

Flash forward 40 years. I am now living my childhood fantasy, and it has become part of the background. For a time, I enjoyed watching the fireworks reflected in the glass of the buildings across the river, and it meant I could watch the show without fighting the spiders on my balcony. But lately, I’ve felt like a curmudgeon, unable to take pleasure in an event whose sole purpose is to entertain.

But wait! All of that changed when I decided to partake in a firework cruise. There are probably many such cruises, but this one was part of the incredibly worthwhile “Jazzin’ at the Shedd” event. The boat took off into the dark waters of Lake Michigan and came to rest near the lighthouse by Navy Pier.

When the fireworks began exploding all around us, the boat was under a beautifully colored siege. That alone brought a few gasps of wonder, but what really sold the moment, and brought back a sense of childhood awe, was seeing the lights of mighty Chicago framing this pyrotechnic spectacular. All these years, I’ve been staring out at the lake, taking for granted what I see every day. I just needed a change of perspective.

Matthew Reiss, Community Contributor