How do you spell therapy?

You COULD pay someone big bucks for them to say, "uh huh, yes, I understand why you feel that way...what I hear you saying is...now why do you think that you feel this way?" (no offense to therapists)

Or you could buy half-priced fireworks, bring them home, light the fuse and enjoy the fact that you haven't been able to do that in forever...at least that's what I did.

I hadn't even realized how much I missed lighting off fireworks until this year.

Sure, I spent hours trying to figure out the best angle, best setting, best location to take pictures and then "shooting" them for everyone to enjoy a few weekends ago, but that is not how fireworks should be enjoyed.

My earliest memory was of my dad smuggling them home to Iowa, because he was a truck driver and drove past the stands all year long. AND he had two little girls that knew he had a stash of I want to say M50 firecrackers that he'd shoot off 2 or 3 of every year on the 4th of July. And if we begged hard enough, he'd bring home a couple of pretty fireworks for us to enjoy.

Occasionally he'd get some of the legal, boring fireworks and we'd light the stuff and yawn. You know, the sparklers with the red hot wires that we hand to children and then say, "Enjoy!" or the black snakes, that you light and they turn into ash. Boring.

When he died, he still had some fireworks in his closet and we brought them home. Never shot them all off. They sat in the closet so long that a few years ago since it was legal, we tried to shoot them off, they were worthless. Age or moisture I'd guess.

Every time the subject of going to watch the fireworks came up, I'd yawn. You can watch them on TV, or find some schmuck that will take pictures of them and videotape them so that you can watch them on your laptop.

Fireworks are meant to be lit, walked briskly away from and laughed at while you watch them in your own yard. (my apologies to those in the city limits, but hey YOU get the cool internet that will never happen for those of us that live in the country!)

So I did something I've never done. I pulled into the half price fireworks place, it was July 5th, got a large box of fireworks, brought them home and lit those babies off one at a time. I laughed. I smiled. I grinned so big and no one went running away screaming like a little girl!

A half hour later, I was still grinning. I've heard that term "finding yourself" and always hated it, but I think I'm getting the hang of that.

This is me.

Enjoying demolition derbies and shooting off big ol' loud obnoxious fireworks!

I think I like my therapy. Self-induced fun, laughing at the sheer pleasure of a loud bang that I created. Shaking my little corner of the earth, and feeling it.

To get completely well, I will need a permit from the county to shoot them off at least once every few days and a few thousand dollars. I suppose I'll be fine, until next year.

Sure, the one therapy insurance won't cover, and the neighbors are glad!

Yep, it's official folks, I think I'm becoming a redneck, maybe I'd better see if Jeff Foxworthy has some advice for me.