The fourth of July. An American holiday that conjures up mental pictures of family picnics in the park, kids running through sprinklers, family backyard Bar-B-Qs, and most important fireworks. I mean what would the 4th of July be without the fireworks, right?
Well, I’m not sure about you, but around my house people start shooting off fireworks in the middle of June and continue on long past the 4th of July. We have the little back yard poppers, bottle rockets, some squeelers and some big boomers now and then. But, to see the really good stuff you have to go to the “city” shows.
For the last five or so years I have been taking my mom to meet my Uncle at the Wyandotte fireworks. Wyandotte is a cute little town located on the Detroit River, just down stream from, yep, you guessed it, Detroit. My mom and Uncle grew up in Wyandotte and a lot of their family still lives in and around the area.
Anyway, we meet my Uncle at the boat club around 7ish. It’s still light so we can see the barges in the middle of the river that are loaded with all that is about to come. We can see the hundreds of boats and yachts with their captains jockeying for the best position. And we can see the Coast Guard boats zipping around making sure the everyone is behaving and staying a safe distance from the barges. When the time is right we go out onto the balcony and watch the wonderful display of light, color, shapes and booms. We feel the pride of being an American, and thank those who went before us and gave their lives so we can live in such a wonderful place.
Not so great
This year I brought my little digital pocket camera to get some pictures of us while we were there. I wasn’t really intending to take pictures of the actual fireworks, but my uncle insisted. So I took my little point and shoot, aimed it, tried to focus, tried to hold my hand steady and pushed the button.
Well as you can see, yes I got a picture (by the way this is my best one) it’s OK, but it’s not great.
This got me thinking. We all do things that are OK. But for something to be really GREAT, you need the right equipment. You need some training or schooling and then of course experience. And even with all that, whatever we are doing won’t be GREAT unless we do it with a creative flair. You know, that special little something that some people can add that just makes whatever they do POP! You know like a professional photographer, a mater chef or even a professional custom picture framer 
I hope you had a GREAT 4th of July and added your own special little touch to that picnic in the park you had, or with helping the kids with their game of running through the sprinkler, or the backyard family Bar-B-Q!
Orchard Lake Concierge
