Fireworks Season: The Aftermath

So, in most areas of the U.S., the occasion for fireworks is usually just on July 4th. Sure, people do some on New Year's Eve, but usually, it's just the 4th of July that you buy copious amounts of fireworks.

Well, it's a little different in Utah. We do celebrate the 4th with many, many fireworks shows. However, we also have the 24th of July and then we have our individual city celebrations during the summer. The 24th of July is Pioneer Day, to commemorate when the pioneers headed west and settled the Salt Lake Valley. The whole of Utah marks the occasion. The city celebrations are usually week long events that differ within each city in our area, including parades, talent shows, and yes, fireworks.

We're just a bunch of pyromaniacs up here.

This year, we decided to join in on the fun and loaded up on pyrotechnics. For the younger kiddos, we ended up with a large box, containing about 250 of the small boxes of poppers. You know, the ones you throw on the ground that explode and make a loud bang. They make the kids happy and keeps them away from the big fireworks. There is a downside to them, though.

They. Make. A. Mess.

Everywhere.

After sweeping a few times, I knew that it would be hopeless to clean them up until every last one was popped. So, two weeks of popping later, we finally tossed the last spent poppers. I swept and hosed down the driveway like a mad woman. And I was left with a dilemma.

These.

The popper papers like to cling to grass. A lot. My first thought was to mow the yard with the bag attached and just discard them with the clippings. However, alas, our new mower doesn't have a bag or an attachment for a bag. So, after some thought, I found myself wishing that I could just pull out my vacuum and suck it all up. I'm embarrassed to admit that it took me almost 2 hours to connect that thought with the fact that I have a shop vac.

Once that light bulb finally clicked, out came the shop vac. I vacuumed up the grass on both sides of the driveway with the hose attachment, had to clear the hose a few times because of clogs, but successfully cleaned it all up. I'm sure that the people driving by thought that my OCD was on overdrive that day. My neighbor, who just had his yard mowed and trimmed, came out with a laugh and joked that I was resorting to new measures to keep our lawn up to par with his. I also swore to myself that there was no way we would be buying those freakin poppers again, ever.

So, if you are needing a new, unorthodox method of cleaning the yard and making people question your sanity...you've definitely come to the right blog.