California desert near Fort Irwin, early 2000s.
A friend and I went to camp on a dry lake in the California desert on the border of the Fort Irwin Marine base. We were supposed to meet another friend out there but couldn’t find him. So we set up a small camp, had dinner, had a small campfire, went to sleep next to the cars.
Very early the next morning: incoming bottle rockets.
Our friend had arrived in the middle of the night. He’d found us — parked on a dry lake in the dark, no landmarks — and rather than walking over and waking us gently, he’d decided to announce himself with fireworks.
This is a completely reasonable thing to do if you’re that friend. It communicates the essential information (I’m here, I found you) with minimal words and maximum entertainment value for the person launching them. For the people waking up to bottle rockets in the desert, the experience is more abrupt.
We were not in danger. The dry lake was large. He was a good enough shot that nothing landed particularly close. But waking up to incoming fire in the California desert at 5 AM will briefly make you question your choices, right up until you hear the laughter and understand what’s happening.
Good friend. Memorable morning.