Last night was really rough. I live in a town that still allows fireworks, which is ridiculous, especially because of the fire issues in California. The police department "promised" that this year they wouldn't tolerate illegal fireworks. Yeah, right. Some thoughtless jerk was repeatedly setting off bottlerockets just outside my window, starting at dusk and on and on, well into the night. The whole neighborhood...it sounded like a war zone. It was bad; I've never heard such a violent 4th of July. My husband is a Vietnam combat veteran; he was absolutely frantic, pacing the room and talking about the Tet offensive. And he still denies that he has PTSD. My poor cats were really traumatized. They hid, but one was so frightened, he lost his ability to move and just curled up in a terrorized ball.

The third time the jerk set off a line of bottlerockets flames went up into the large, leafy tree outside my window. Glass shattered all over. I called 911 and the woman who answered could not have been ruder. She could hear my husband yelling, and I was trying to shout over him that we needed a police patrol out here because the a**hole setting off the illegal fireworks was going to set the tree on fire. She scolded me for calling 911 and yelled at me, "In the future only call this number if it's a life or death emergency!" I yelled, "PLEASE send an officer out here!" -and she hung up on me!!

My husband and cats are pretty much okay today, but I can't stop the anxiety I feel. I am exhausted. I just feel like crying. Thank you for reading this.