Did you ever perform this summertime ritual–lighting sparklers on the Fourth of July? Do you remember the hissing sound of a burning sparkler, the pinpricks of heat as stray sparks hit your hand, the tiny vibrations coming down the wire? What kid in America has not written his name with the brilliant chattering light? What kid in America hasn’t burned her hand on a hot sparkler wire that she thought was out?

The cost of fireworks goes up every year, but sparklers are still relatively cheap and they’re always a hit. Being on a tight budget, that’s all we bought this year, besides two purple cardboard canisters that contained a surprising quantity of pop and sparkle. The sparkler ritual turns into a sort of dance. Dad lights the first match (and the second, third, and fourth: the wind was blowing) and holds it an improbably long time under the first unlit wire. All at once the magic ignites: sparks fly from the wire in all directions, hissing and gleaming; kids squeal, start back, and return immediately proffering their own wires. Dad calls that they must light from each others’ wires since he’s lighting no more matches, and time after time as a sparkler burns out a child tosses the glowing wire into the empty steel bucket, begs a fresh one of Dad, and scampers off to light it from the nearest sister. Mom orbits the scene, camera in one hand, Jacob kicking excitedly in the other. Even shy little Sarah handled a tentative sparkler or two, until a jumping spark made her cry.

When the last box is opened the excitement has not quite ebbed. Dad announces “Last box!” and the kids moan “Ohhhh,” in the time-honored up-and-down tone; but disappointment is forgotten when Mom and Dad say, “Shoes on, grab a jacket, go potty, let’s go to town and watch the fireworks!”

And that is what we did.

Here, parenthetically, you also see our sorry little front lawn. We planted it last fall. Rain and spilled manure have helped the little plants along, and it’s acquiring an appearance of green; but the soil is hard and constant traffic from kids and dogs hinder its growth. Sod is prohibitively expensive, and we can’t fence off our grass enough to keep the dogs out. But somehow, gradually, our grass keeps getting greener.