Fabulous 4th

After not being invited to my brother's house to spend a hot and humid day on his pontoon for the 4th of July, Amy and I celebrated a little more quietly and oh so beautifully.   On the 4th of July proper, we had ourselves an intimate fire in our yard.   Meeka did great, after her initial barks, at the loud booms and pops of neighborhood fireworks being lit off around us.  After a while, she became a bit more desensitized to the intrusion and settled in with us at the fire.  Following that, Amy and I watched from the comfort of our couch the city's firework display on YouTube.

Ever since we moved to the home on our little lake, I have always wanted to do a nighttime kayak under the light of a full moon.  When we learned that Mont Du Lac would be lighting off their own firework show on the 5th of July, we were hoping for good weather to make a nighttime kayak come true.

Alas, the weather was absolutely perfect for a Duluth summer night.  Nighttime temps in the mid 70's with absolutely no wind, accompanied by a nearly full moon, made for a perfect opportunity to venture out on the water.  Plus with the addition of fireworks, how we could turn that down.

So out we went at about 9:15 PM (we kept Meeka at home for this excursion and had ourselves a "kid-free" date).  Once we got out on our lake, the beauty was only beginning.  We paddled through a magical galaxy of shimmering dragonflies, each one a flicker of summer's breath.  Peaceful and Serene, they enveloped us with their delicate wings as we made our way out to the most breathtaking sunset over the river.  

Amazingly mosquitoes were not bad!  Normally, mosquitoes make outside water time unbearable, but this year, they are a little more scarce.  Not absent completely, but definitely noticeably very few.

Once we got to the bay to watch the fireworks, the moon started to get covered up by some clouds leaving us a little concerned about paddling home in the absolute darkness.  While we waited for the celebration in the sky to begin, the current of the river started to slowly slowly take us towards home.  We just quietly flowed with the current allowing the river to be our navigator while we watched the distant sparks light up the night sky.  A beautiful reminder of our Independence especially when the outside world is a bit unsettled.   

Once the show was over, we made our way through the pitch black tunnel to return home to another mystical scene of hundreds of illuminated fireflies greeting us at our dock.  Pulling up to the fairy-tale scene  was the perfect ending to a perfect evening spent just with my lady love and God above.  

Life doesn't get much better than this, folks.