Celebration

Written by Dr. Mel

Monday, 04 July 2005

Two items seem to be first and foremost on the minds of many in this neighborhood which borders Long Island Sound on one side, and the entrance to New Haven Harbor on the other – Fourth of July parties and hurricanes. The parties, along with dueling fireworks displays, began on the weekend before the Fourth, reached a peak last weekend, and will only slowly taper off this weekend. On the night that the town towed a fireworks barge out on the water, the neighbors decided that they were going to compete with that public display of explosions. And they did pretty well. This neighborhood is rich in fireworks tradition. My next door neighbor works for a very large fireworks company – the one that was contracted by the town, and the one he says that the Kentucky Derby contracted to spend one million dollars for a 10-minute display. That's a lot of money going up in smoke. Also, each year, on the Fourth, at least one block party is happening – exploding fireworks, roasting pigs. They really go whole hog. Last weekend, we had two block parties occurring simultaneously within two blocks. During the fireworks portion of the events, you had to duck for cover. From past experience, I know that the neighbors have a sufficiently large arsenal stashed away to last through Labor Day. Of course, this enclave of party-doers experiences its share of natural fireworks, too, and the thought of these is bringing more than the usual anxiety this year. It is a big anniversary year. Fifty years ago, in August, dueling summer parties were hosted Connie and Diane which in ten days managed to generate as much as 20 inches of rain. The flooding was historic and losses approached $1 billion across New England. It was the area's most costly meteorological disaster. Then, 20 years ago, in September, Gloria was the noisemaker, and the last genuine hurricane to wash onto the Connecticut shoreline. The waves which pounded the sea walls caused some damage, but the storm came during low tide and the surge was slight compared to other hurricanes. The main problems with Gloria were its gusty winds and power outages – this neighborhood, like many others, lost power for over a week. But, in the scheme of hurricanes, Gloria was not even close to some of the big ones of the past. I am told that during 1954, Hurricane Carol put seaweed into the chimney of the house which stood on the footprint of my present one. Then, there was the most destructive storm of all – the Hurricane of 1938-little remained in tack after that storm slammed the region. You know that these big ones will be back – you just don’t know when. In the meantime, the neighbors will rock on, rockets, and all.

 

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