Capitol Fireworks

Arkansas' state government isn't always that great (and next year's legislative session is sure to be a doozy), but one thing that it does right is the annual fireworks show at the State Capitol in December. The fireworks fill the sky just before the 200,000 or so Christmas lights on the building are switched on for the first time. It's a fun tradition, especially if you have kids. So Jonah and I headed out there and we found a good spot in the lawn in front of the capitol.

The show starts with a few speeches from various politicians (much to the dismay of all the kids in the crowd), and then there is a big countdown to the start of the fireworks. Except this year there was a little hiccup in the plans. The computer that runs the lights and fireworks apparently decided to freeze up just when the show was supposed to start. So after the countdown everything went dark and then......nothing happened. For about 15 minutes everyone stood waiting in the dark as the kids got more restless and the adults made jokes about the state forgetting to pay its electric bill. But eventually they got everything working and the rest of the show went off without a hitch....