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Ringing in the new year has a whole ‘nother meaning in Hawaii.
In true local style, kanaks — short for kanaka maoli — have been popping firecrackers since the start of fall.
In certain areas of the island, those loud booms intrude on an otherwise peaceful weekday night. You know, those illegal aerials launched by a neighbor down the road that rudely make you flinch while you’re minding your own business watching TV.
It’s that time of the year when those deafening blasts, while startling, are expected as the reveling and excitement build as it gets closer to New Year’s Eve.
All year long, my brothers-in-law, nephews and cousins save their hard-earned cash just to watch it blow up in smoke on their favorite night of the year.
“My favorite time is midnight when this island just erupts,” my brother-in-law said. “The smell, the smoke and the noise takes me back to when I was a kid.”
To mark the start of a new millennium in 2000, he estimates he blew $6,000 to $8,000 on firecrackers — it’s crazy, I know! — for his part in the local family tradition. This year, they are spending around $1,200.
More firecrackers are expected to be popping this New Year’s Eve with nearly 21,000 firecracker permits issued on Oahu, 3,800 more than the 2016 celebration.
The popping begins in earnest throughout the day on Dec. 31, but the hard-core stuff comes out around 11:30 p.m. That’s when thousands of those tiny red firecrackers turn typically sleepy valleys and tranquil towns into rowdy, boisterous, smoke-filled neighborhoods you don’t want to get caught driving through at midnight.
When I was a kid, I remember my aunties, uncles and cousins lining up just before midnight to light the fuses in unison on long strings of firecrackers hanging from ladders and lampposts. I covered my ears — even though it didn’t help — and marveled, watching the sparks fly as bits of red paper exploded into the air.
It represented a new beginning, a fresh start, unlimited potential. We reminisced on the past year and eagerly anticipated the possibilities and dreams of what was to come in the year ahead.
As I get older, the thrill of fireworks has diminished. But I am most excited to see the enthusiasm and wonder in my children’s eyes as they watch those tiny red firecrackers blast into the new year.
“She Speaks” is a weekly column by women writers of the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Reach Kristen Consillio at kconsillio@staradvertiser.com.
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