So it's getting on towards nine o'clock and I'm finally dragging myself out of work and down to the car and it's been twelve hours since I left my apartment in the morning and I've still got an hour's drive ahead of me and it occurs to me that I'm an idiot.

It's dark out, and damp. Fog is spread across the sky.

I say, "Blugh" to the parking lot.

And suddenly, above me, a stream of sparks ignites. Yellow- gold sparks, with occasional plumes of red, arching down and away, cutting easily thorough the gloom. Shhhh-bang-shhhh-bang-shhh.

I stand staring up at it when it beings to turn, leveling off and doubling back on itself, rising.

The El Toro Air Show is this weekend and the pilots have been practicing all sorts of tricks -- loops, rolls, fly-bys -- but this is the first time I've seen fireworks, moving and twisting like fireworks can't. It's beautiful, and I'm glad I get to see it.

But, really, I'm still an idiot.