Are there any clues warning us that the 4th of July is at hand? The hot weather is one. But if you need another hint, the unsightly roadside shacks peddling fireworks is the definitive (pardon the pun) "smoking gun."

If you think about it, fireworks are a bit like marijuana. In most places, they are illegal to possess or use, but are still readily available.

The hands of law enforcement officers are tied as long as fireworks are sold and used outside the city limits. (Of course, if careless folks set fire to a field or nearby homes with firecrackers, then they are fair game for the law.)

On occasion, police park their squad cars (in plain sight) near fireworks stands and wait. If a person completes his or her purchase and crosses the invisible city limits line, the police are free to extend a flashing greeting along with a welcome card (commonly recognized as a ticket). After watching this scene play out several times, one may conclude that there really are a plethora of stupid people in the world.

Several years ago, my father, along with my brother and his wife, visited us on the 4th of July. With barely contained excitement my brother opened the trunk of his car, explaining that he stopped at a fireworks stand and bought out the vendor's remaining stock for less than half price.

As darkness fell, father and I sat on the porch while my mature sibling (resembling a mad druid) danced in the yard, setting off Roman candles and other entertaining explosives as fast as he could light them. Then, I saw a flickering flame a few yards from the house.

Somehow, I managed to jump off the porch, turn on the faucet and run across the yard with the water hose. After the nascent fire was extinguished and stomped into dust, my vocal displeasure could probably be heard in the next county.

"Are you afraid of fire?" father asked.

You be the judge. We were in the middle of a three-year drought and my genius sibling starts a fire while making things go Boom!

But my siblings have not cornered the market on periodic poor judgment. One of the ladies in our movie review club shared the unusual July 4th tradition of her ex-husband's family. The adult brothers would face off and shoot Roman candles at each other while their parents cheered them on.

Perhaps the act of shooting off fireworks allows folks to become like little children. And as you may have noticed, children love to make noise. The louder the racket, the more delighted they are. Thus we may conclude that making things go boom must delight the inner child.

July 4th exposes another kind of celebrant, the enthusiastic drunks who fire bullets into the air. It is obvious they are not students of physics. Otherwise they would know that "What goes up must come down."

Where do all those bullets go? Is it outer space or something closer? How about on top of someone's head?

Of course, some folks do not need a holiday to shoot off a few rounds. One local fellow is reputed to sit on his porch and shoot coyotes, wild pigs or anything else that moves near the creek behind his house. The problem is some of those bullets hit unintended targets like cattle and horses. Sort of puts a damper on the bucolic life folks expect to live out here.

Perhaps the publishers of those "For Dummies" books could write one for the aforementioned whiz kids. Something like, "A Memorable 4th of July for Dummies: How to play with firecrackers, shoot bullets in the air and get a wild ambulance ride to the Emergency Room."