Maimed by a firework

Okay, maimed might be a little dramatic....but I srsly got a 3rd degree burn on my forearm last night.

The marks on the upper left-side portion of the burn are weeping blisters. Just in case you were wondering.

So, we were packing up to go home, and I was holding Jonny trying to keep him asleep, when I heard loud noises of firework awesomeness coming from behind me. I turned to watch and realized that the firework was one of the newly legal in Utah "aerial" fireworks. And it was *right* behind me, between 5-10 feet from dozens of children and their parents. And it was sitting on the grass. For those readers who don't know about these fireworks, they are packed with enough gun powder and other explosive chemicals to launch up to 150 feet into the air. They launch several glowing cannon-ball sized "fireballs" into the air, which, when they reach their destination explode and fall glittering back to the ground.

It fell over. The first fireball flew into the field. The next flew directly underneath the chairs of the people who lit the dang thing. The next flew straight at me. More accurately, straight at Jonny's back. I saw it coming, and tried to turn/dodge. Instead of hitting his back, sticking there, and exploding, it deflected off of my fore-arm and exploded on the grassy hill behind me. Then, total chaos for the next 30 seconds while during the "big finish" portion of the firework, fireballs were flying in every direction and at such awesome targets as children's faces. Miraculously, no one was hurt but me. The firework that hit me literally bounced off of my arm and was not in contact with my clothing or skin for any duration. It burned a hole in my fleece sweater and a hole in my skin in a fraction of a second. Imagine what it might have done if it had stayed in contact with my skin for any real amount of time. Yikes!

I had some special words for the geniuses (all grown-ups, not deviant teenagers) who lit the firework that close to people.  I was not the only angry mother in that park. They just about got a beat down, Mormon Mommy style. They had the nerve to first try and pass off blame to me (I got in the way of the firework on purpose just so I could yell at them), then to justify their poor choice by pointing out that several other people had been doing the same thing in other parts of the park, then finally tried insisting that they had done it "safely"...all the while yelling at me as though I had done something wrong. 

Here's a tip: if you do something stupid, admit it and apologize. Trying to justify what you did only makes you look like a bigger a-hole than you already did...

So, to anyone who reads this: This is your friendly neighborhood reminder to take safety seriously. My arm could so easily have been Jonny's back, or Sam's eye, or Abby's pretty little face. If the man who lit that firework had taken it 100 yards away into the middle of the field, there would have been virtually no harm done. When you're lighting your fireworks this year, take the few extra seconds 

to think it through and make it safe! 

Do it for my arm's sake!!

Happy July, everyone!