fireworks – Nancy Tart: Writing for Life

Independence Day 2021

July 10, 2021

“Freedom fireworks!” Screams one of the littler girls when she hears me say, “fireworks over the Matanzas starts at 9:30.”

The best fireworks show in the world (okay, maybe since St Augustine is my city, I might be a little biased) is our downtown spectacular “Fireworks Over the Matanzas.” Every year since our little family moved to St Augustine with a one-year-old little Christina, we’ve been down at the bayfront when the sky explodes with vibrant colors to musiç that stirs your soul and shakes through your shoes up to your chest.

My sisters have joined us, my mom came to her first one with us in 2019, various nieces and nephews have camped out in the stroller (now retired) or on blankets at the festivities. We dance, enjoy the day, watch fish, marine life, and people.

This year it was park late, walk fast, and get there with 15 minutes to spare!

I love our tradition!

As long as we have “Fireworks over the Matanzas” we will be there. Sometimes more than “Tart, party of 9” and sometimes less as the kiddos start branching out, but we will be there!

This year was exciting as everyone stayed up through the show but also sad because Christina wasn’t there (in Indiana doing pilot stuff).

Time marches on.

Seasons change, stages overlap, and years pass by. You have 18 summers (maybe) before your infant, who slept though her first Fireworks, becomes an independent adult. That could be scary.

This year Christina is 17, going to Embry-Riddle, and just graduated with her AA and is blowing our expectations out of the water! I’m so humbled by watching this amazing young woman become an adult.

Becky went to PreMed camp. Her triumphant return with a passion that turned my silent introvert into a chatterbox relaying exciting experiences and new goals and plans made me thankful for our decision to send her. She is such a caring heart and her passion is contagious! I’m humbled by this beautiful heart I’m getting the privilege to connect with. I’m praying God grants me the wisdom to guide her as she chooses her next steps.

Kimberly had a difficult decision to make for summer and did it with grace. I’m proud of watching her take control of her responsibilities.

Jaquline is proving herself a competent household manager and baby/toddler whisperer. I can’t wait to see what God does with her tender servant’s heart.

Jillian is learning to take direction and focus better. Her live of sports and can-do attitude make for a world of possibilities! I’m praying this season teaches her responsibility and determination.

Lucas is growing by leaps and bounds. I pray his tender heart continues to protect others.

Thea is learning to count by 10s and quarters!! (That made Jaquline and I blink) “Mom, I need 25 *raises 1 finger* and 50 *raises 2nd finger* but not 75 *raises 3rd finger* for goldfish.” She was right, goldfish snacks at gym need 2 quarters aka 50 cents.

Treasure each stage. Embrace each challenge. Look for the positive in what appears to be negative. Find truth. Choose joy. What few summers you have with each one will slip away faster than you think. It wasn’t like last year (with no Fireworks over the Matanzas) I thought, “Christina won’t be here next year.” Nope, didn’t cross my mind. Just like I balk at the thought that Becky is beginning to mange her own schedule… As is Kimberly.

Just like pregnancy (I love being pregnant, the feel of honor carrying life), you never know when “the lasts” will happen so you have to treasure each moment.

Enjoy your last half of summer! Make some memories!! Do the unexpected simple things (like play a game outside in the light rain) to make this summer special. Treasure each moment. I’m trying to…

Thanks for reading!

Type at you later!

~Nancy Tart

God’s Fireworks

June 7, 2020

God’s Fireworks

When Christina, Brian, and Becky were little, way back when Becky was going by the nickname of “Lori” and we had a big brown dog they named “Dakota” after a Disney song from a movie that went on repeat for easily two months… we lived in a house with three huge windows in the living room that opened to the huge front yard and made it easy to see the summer storm lightning shows.

Dakota would hide under the table during the storms. Christina and Becky had just watched the Fireworks over the Matanzas – our one family tradition that has never been interrupted for 16 years – and they comforted Dakota by saying, “it is all okay, Dakota, this is just God’s Fireworks in the sky.”

One of the first summer storms to pop up this year and we get this picture and the following video: beautiful examples of the volatility and beauty of nature. The big girls had to tell the little ones the story of Dakota and how we came to call lightning shows “God’s Fireworks.”

We listened to the wind outside howl and thunder last night. I’m reminded of the changes in seasons. From drought so bad we had to carefully nurse our garden with deep watering twice daily to this rain so filling that our watermelons and tomatoes are splitting.

Rainy season and hurricane season are here. Change.

We choose to embrace each change in life as it comes. We adapt through changes. Sometimes we don’t like the change: like being locked away, losing jobs, losing summer camps, losing scholarship opportunities, losing VBS, losing the potential for a house… etc.

But we overcome and rise with new goals and hopes.

We shift our job focus from what makes money to what we love! We stop watering the garden and now watch for the signs of splitting fruit. We work harder. We find other opportunities. We chose to look for the good in each event. We choose to see the setbacks as challenges to rise above.

We choose not to be bitter. This is a hard one. We must understand two things: we only can move forward and we can only change ourselves. We cannot control what circumstances we are thrown into but we can control our reactions to said circumstances.

I choose love. I choose joy. I pray my children follow in my example and choose love and joy when life throws them circumstances that seem unfair.

The lightning reminds me today that the world is broken. Lightning can cause damage. Lightning can cause death. But lighting shows are beautiful, awe inspiring dancing electrons in gorgeous flashes of bright light and colored thunderhead clouds. I choose to see the potentially dangerous lighting show as beautiful: “God’s Fireworks”

I choose to see setbacks and losses as potential to rise with joy and allow the peace that passes all understanding to rule my heart. Odd that lighting makes me think of contention and losses… but that’s my weirdly wired brain.

Thank you for reading!

Type at you next time,

~Nancy Tart

Fireworks and Family

July 6, 2019

Fireworks and Family

We have only missed one “Fireworks Over the Matanzas” in all of Christina’s 15 years. We were at Wild Adventures park in Valdosta and Christina wasn’t even one year old.

Every year we go downtown.

Louis monitors the weather so we’ve avoided being soaked like we ended up a few of the earlier years. Those were so fun though, cool, wet rain on the hot July day. Children never mind the rain – normally they dance in it with newly made friends.

Today was no different; my little gymnasts put on a show in the grass and met a few new friends. It sprinkled a little but that didn’t stop them!

They played various games like “Duck Duck Goose” and “Red Light Green Light” – timeless favorites.

Christina and Becky held down the spots on the edge of the wall – giggling about the turtles and fish passing below their feet.

Grandma, Aunt Becca, and Anastasia showed up. Anastasia has been with us to almost every Fireworks show since she was born. Becca has come almost every time too. This was my mom’s first. Daddy didn’t like fireworks (lots of veterans don’t) so they never even stayed for the Disney Fireworks shows the few times we went when I was really little.

Grandma joined the teenagers at the edge of the water.

We goofed off and chatted, playing, spending time together. We made several bathroom runs – the last one just as the announcer said “20 minutes to go!”

Thea sat in her stroller and enjoyed the view. She fell asleep about 6:30 and woke up after the fireworks show finished so she could spend some time in Grandma Tina’s arms!

The Fireworks Over the Matanzas show gets better every year. I love our little town. I enjoy family time of just sitting around, playing goofy games, watching the children enjoy themselves, dancing to music, and finally watch their faces erupt with amazement and rapture at the brilliant fiery explosions in the sky.

The next morning, Lucas asked, “is fireworks like Family Fun Fest? Only one in the whole year?” When I answered “yes,” he said, “I can’t wait for next fireworks!”

Type at you later,

~Nancy Tart

Celebration: Disney Springs

How better to celebrate a long first day of college semester than to watch fireworks from three parks atop the Disney Springs parking garage?

August 22, 2018

Celebration: Disney Springs

We love to explore free parks and things to do. Like playing tourist in downtown Saint Augustine, visiting the beach, playing kickball or tennis at Treaty Park, or when Louis wants to “get out of Dodge,” exploring a bit farther away: Daytona Beach boardwalk, Jacksonville Landing, or Disney Springs.

This time he decided Disney Springs. If you don’t go hungry or bring some snacks and water bottles, you can spend hours listening to live music, exploring cool sights, taking boat or bus rides, and spend nothing. (Just the gas getting there, which for us is about $20.) We dream of being able to “do Disney” at the actual parks, which will happen someday, but for now, Disney Springs is what my kids mean when they say “Disneyworld.”

Once we touch the edge of Orlando and see all the tall buildings, the entertainment has begun! The girls and Lucas shout about seeing the tops of rides, “castles,” houses on top of big buildings, and roads going over us and under us!

They are building what appears to be a 5-level overpass system on I4! The kids were trying to count how high it would be – they thought four, then realized we were already over two other lanes! (Yes, we get excited about crazy stuff like being on bridges, overpasses, and parking garages.)

Christina, Rebeccah, and Kimberly start telling stories of their one visit to Universal (Daddy’s birthday two years ago for Rock the Universe). They laugh over Kimberly falling asleep on Daddy’s shoulders during the last concert and marvel at the weird purple mountain that is the icon for the new Volcano Bay waterpark.

As usual, it’s one of the girls who reminds me that I have a camera!

Kimberly took pictures of her favorite “cove” in Disney Springs. This twist of sparkling water and beautiful plants fascinates Kimberly.

The beautiful “chess knight” fountain (the girls call it that because the horse heads remind them of chess pieces) is also Lucas’ favorite fountain.

Admiring the giant Lego statues is a must.

The giant water dragon was admired and discussed for almost fifteen minutes!

There’s Buzz and Woody from Toy Story (Kimberly loves that one).

Jillian and Lucas sat with the Lego Friends statues (and Lucas tried to do what he does to everyone else’s Lego creations, take them apart!).

We watched the Rain Forest Café’s Volcano explode with hot lava across the bay.

Kimberly’s favorite place to wander around is in the T-Rex eatery because she loves to jump when the robot dinosaurs move. All lit up, it looks like a Mayan temple from this angle.

Another fountain picture appears since Lucas loves all fountains.

We raced to the top of the parking garage (we always park at the top level) so we could watch the fireworks from Epcot and Magic Kingdom at the same time! A third park’s fireworks were a bit further in the distance, probably Disney Studios, but we weren’t sure.

We were going to stay to go watch the water parade on the Lagoon, but with everyone zonked from a long first day at college and the inability of the stroller to carry four people, we ended on the fireworks and journeyed home.

Yes, they all slept on the ride home, which made for some Mom and Daddy conversation time!

Thank you, Jesus, for our amazing life!

Thanks for reading!

Type at you next time…

~Nancy Tart

Fireworks Over the Matanzas

July 8, 2018

Fireworks Over the Matanzas

Ask any of my kids what their favorite day is one answer will be… “Fourth of July!”

Why?

Because we always go downtown to watch the best fireworks show ever! (Okay, maybe I’m a little prejudiced because I live here, but I get a travel magazine and it listed our “Fireworks Over the Matanzas” as one of the top 5 annual fireworks shows!)

We make is a production! (Yes, that was not this year, but our longest “train!” because it included me – taking picture – and the buggy!)

(Jaquline at the Fireworks Over the Matanzas years ago – photo credit, my amazing friend, Stacy Moorehouse)

This was the first year we went without the baby buggy – took a foldable wagon instead. And yes, it doubled as Anastasia’s buggy from the van to downtown and Lucas’ back to the van.

We bring snacks, water (hydration, as Christina calls it – thank you, Civil Air Patrol), juice (Becky wanted juice to refill the water bottles this year), and lots of energy! The girls always make new friends at the bayfront.

This year a new friend family from Atlanta, Georgia shared their bag of glowsticks with the girls and Lucas! (This made them very excited! As you can see, Lucas made glasses to “see very far away.”) Even though Christina said she was “too big” for glowsticks, between Becky and Kimberly, they had her wearing one! (Kimberly has “a pirate earring” and Christina is covering her bracelet!)

Finally, after enjoying awesome music (before the city music came through the speakers, we could hear Evan D’s music from Harry’s! He’s a local artist I like to hear.), playing and talking with new friends, snacking on lots of fruit and sweet potato chips from Currie’s and Aldi’s, and having Aunt Becca join us, we got to the main event

The best fireworks show on the bayfront! (I can’t record more than about 22 seconds at a time on my camera, so we only caught a few snippets of the show, but it was amazing!)

We trudged home, (Lucas slept in the wagon, in a picture back up there^ somewhere) laughing, singing, and enjoying our family time! Oh, and yes, Lucas fell asleep during the fireworks! 🙂 I was so excited and even mentioned “this is the first year everyone is awake to see the fireworks!” haha! Then he was out.

Will we face huge crowds, packed potties, and no-see-ums again? Oh yes! And look forward to an amazing 6 hours or more next year at our special bayfront spot, making new friends and enjoying each others’ company!

We love the City of Saint Augustine’s Fireworks Over the Matanzas!

Thanks for reading!

Type at you later…

~Nancy Tart

Tag: fireworks

Independence Day 2021

Like this:

God’s Fireworks

Like this:

Fireworks and Family

Like this:

Celebration: Disney Springs

Like this:

Fireworks Over the Matanzas

Like this:

If you liked it, please share!

Like this:

If you liked it, please share!

Like this:

If you liked it, please share!

Like this:

If you liked it, please share!

Like this:

If you liked it, please share!

Like this: