Post 4th Blues

6:49

Well,  the celebrations are over and it's back to normal for a couple of days, not that we aren't looking forward to our kid's arrival towards the end of the week.  After a busy day both on the lake and in all the cottages, the empty, quiet lake is a bit strange.  Where did everyone go? Sleeping maybe or on their way home like we used to be before we retired up here in 2010.  It's 9:00 as we finish this.  I did get in a paddle, over to Long Point, across to Sandy Bottom, and home along Woodlawn on a quiet, mostly deserted lake. I love it.  

Kayak Morning

Sunday was a fun day, starting basically at 5:00 when our next-door neighbors and Linda and Ron arrived for a picnic, bean bag, and fireworks.  Up till then, we were semi-busy although most of the prep had been done and everyone was bringing something to the picnic for burgers and dogs, potato salad, beans, and blueberry crumble for dessert.  We were busy, however, much of the morning, with Evie cutting the grass, and me doing some edging around the bushes, getting the yard ready for later in the day.  My big project was to get back in the water and cut the weeds, some six feet high, in front of our dock. At least when I was done, I felt I had accomplished something.  

Evie rewarded my hard work with a great breakfast, a couple of avocado toasts with eggs, Yum.  I watched the Bucks clinch a place in the NBA finals before reading and taking a nap. We took it easy until 4:00 when Evie prepped the burgers and coleslaw and we both showered to get our mojo back.

Picnicking

We sat in the yard until 7:00 with our friends, enjoying appetizers and libations, playing some competitive games of bean bag or corn hole to be more modern.  At 7:00, I fired up the grill and Ron and I cooked burgers and hotdogs to perfection of course. We had more than enough food even though all of us had seconds, some thirds, at least the young un's did. It was a perfect meal for the 4th, traditional and good, the kind we have been having for many years, since the 1950s with my grandparents.

Neighbor's Fireworks

Light The Lake

We sat around in the yard until 10:00, the night cooling, watching fireworks from neighbors and various communities, then lighting flares for "Light The Lake", a tradition of surrounding the lake with flares. It's an impressive sight, the most celebratory night on the lake each year.  Once the flares died, everyone was ready to head home.  We quickly cleaned up the kitchen, putting the dishes in our new dishwasher, starting it up, then going up to bed, the end of another good day.