Fireworks on the Mystic

Clear skies, and 30 minutes of starbursts among the stars. Standing amidst the boats we gasp and point and smile, as fire bridges the gap from water to air. The earth element is now only echoes, repeated percussions behind us.

An hour earlier, we had scouted possible locations to watch the fireworks from the uncrowded side of the Mystic, and the payoff was a yacht club dock paralleling the shore. The fireworks launch was right in front of us in the middle of the river, so we had a perfect view of the low-level display as well as the higher aerial shells. And thankfully no flash-bang salute shells, which would have been ear-splittingly loud at that closeness over water. There were other people and a couple of dogs scattered across the dock, and the fire department had set up as a precaution back on the shore, but it felt like we had lucked into a private show.