Portrait

            Almost a hundred fireworks lay by the side of the house.  I sat swinging by the lake on the 3^rd of July watching my father pace back and forth with anxiousness and excitement.

            The fourth of July was always my father’s favorite holiday, not because it was the day America gained independence from Britain, but because he gets to “blow up the sky” with the insane number of fireworks him and his buddies buy.

            Brandon Winn is a firefighter from Brockton MA, he was always the outgoing type which helped him in many aspects of life however firefighting turned him into a bit of a pyromaniac.  In Massachusetts fireworks are illegal however on the fourth of July the police give some leeway. Allowing the little things like firecrackers and the cool little race cars,

            In Maine however fireworks are completely legal, including the big stuff like roman candles, and mortars, with this type of freedom Brandon was able to go crazy.  The number of fireworks got bigger each year each friend that came around to watch would put in money for more and more pyrotechnics.

            This year was exceptionally exciting for Brandon, one of his friends tagged him in a video on Facebook of a man with two roman candle “hand cannons”.  Brandon being Brandon replied “I can do that shit way better, that all fell apart, we are breaking out the big guns for this one”.  And so, they did, buying almost 50 roman candles to set it all up.

         
            Brandon was never the smartest kid, he fooled around too much in high school and did not go to college he chose the military life joining the marines.   Yet he still is very smart when applying himself, although this may not be one of the smartest decisions he has made it showed how when he applies himself he can make a hand cannon out PVC piping, roman candles, and duct tape.

            As the day went on Brandon was getting more and more anxious by the second, the closer it got to dusk the more he was pacing.  Showing off his creation to everyone that was around.  He never put the thing down, everyone was getting in position for the test of if this thing will actually work.  With a tall can labeled “America” in one hand and the hand cannon in the other he waded into the water with two lighters by his side to help set this thing off.

            There were no injuries and everyone thought it was absolutely awesome, Brandon never fails to give a show and even though the idea wasn’t the smartest it went off without a hitch.  He always knows how to be just crazy enough where people say “wow ok” but don’t get pushed away.