It's the Queens Birthday long weekend in Canberra and that means several things. It is not the Queens Birthday (as she was born April 21 1926), monday is a public holiday and we get to buy fireworks!
We are not allowed to buy rockets or firecrackers (also known as bungers) but we can still get some pretty impressive fireworks. There are ones that shoot sparks up into the air, several times higher than a man, there are others that fire a parachute up into the air and, hopefully, it will land in the neighbours pool (who we dislike intensely) and there are others that fire a projectile that explodes.
June in Canberra is getting cold. It is dark by about five and when we set up the fireworks we are normally feeling cold and miserable. A few years ago my eldest son found a way to warm up. He was setting off one of the projectile emitting fireworks and he had backed away a short distance when it started to fire the projectiles. The tube fell over and explosives were fired all over the garden and he had to run for cover. Not a recommended way to warm yourself up. I have the video to prove it!
The serious side to fireworks is the effect they have on pets. I have never had a pet that was pathologically afraid of fireworks. keeping them inside has always seemed to be enough for our dogs. Our cats have never been worried by them even in Kuala Lumpur where the fireworks were readily available and around Chinese New Year fire crackers would go off all the time as every kid would buy them. We had a dog who was terrified of thunder. She was smart enough not to run away as she felt safer with us. Every year there are complaints from pet owners so the problem must be real.
We are not allowed to buy rockets or firecrackers (also known as bungers) but we can still get some pretty impressive fireworks. There are ones that shoot sparks up into the air, several times higher than a man, there are others that fire a parachute up into the air and, hopefully, it will land in the neighbours pool (who we dislike intensely) and there are others that fire a projectile that explodes.
June in Canberra is getting cold. It is dark by about five and when we set up the fireworks we are normally feeling cold and miserable. A few years ago my eldest son found a way to warm up. He was setting off one of the projectile emitting fireworks and he had backed away a short distance when it started to fire the projectiles. The tube fell over and explosives were fired all over the garden and he had to run for cover. Not a recommended way to warm yourself up. I have the video to prove it!
The serious side to fireworks is the effect they have on pets. I have never had a pet that was pathologically afraid of fireworks. keeping them inside has always seemed to be enough for our dogs. Our cats have never been worried by them even in Kuala Lumpur where the fireworks were readily available and around Chinese New Year fire crackers would go off all the time as every kid would buy them. We had a dog who was terrified of thunder. She was smart enough not to run away as she felt safer with us. Every year there are complaints from pet owners so the problem must be real.
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