As every thing was getting set up for the big 4th of July Independence Day party in south New Orleans, I walked over to the one of the gentleman that was setting up the fireworks. This would be the first time I have seen some up close. During our Independence celebration in Italy, we celebrated it a lot different. America seemed to have more show than Italy did with all of the parades, firewords, and food floating around.

I sat there watching him place each one in the sand inside a little tube that they would be shot out of across the ocean. What seemed like thousands and thousands lined up down the beach would all be shot off at the same time. My imagination began to run wild thinking about all the flashes of color that would fill the sky later tonight.

Looking down the beach, I seen tables and chairs set up every where. Families from all over were coming to Miami to watch the show. Kids running and playing in the blue ocean diving in and out to get cooled off from the south Florida sun. I just stood there watching them and a smile came across my face as I remembered doing this myself as a child.

The beach was full of places that you could get hotdogs and hamburgers, drinks of all kinds, and there was also a couple of bands playing at the other end of the beach. The sound of jazz filled the air mixed with the flow of the ocean crashing against the shore. It was a harmonic sound that seemed like one was playing off of the other.

As the day began to come to an end, some gentleman got on a microphone to tell the crowd that the firewords display would start in about thrity minutes. I quickly made my way over to oneof the table to take a seat. This was going to be an exciting moment for not only myself, but for many others.

"Happy Independence Day" I said to a older couple sitting at the table behind me. They smiled and said thank you as I took my seat. Looking around, I seen a couple of other gentleman that I have known for some time and waved over to them to come take a seat at my table to watch the show.