Just returned from a wonderfully relaxing trip to visit our friends the Naylors at their Lake Gaston lakehouse. It marked the first time in a week I had seen my girls, I spent time with in-laws I don’t see too often, and like always, Ralph and Suzzanne were truly incredible hosts.
The weather was nice, too, which meant hours of sailing, both alone in the Sunfish as well as with two crewmembers in the Oday. During the times the roar of Jet-Skis wasn’t present, you could’ve heard me making that sailboat freakin’ purr, baby! (I can’t knock the Jet-Skis too much though. They looked like the best way to beat the oppressive, 95-degree heat.)
During a late-afternoon sail with me at the helm, I was really feeling it. “This sucks!” I gloated to Ralph and Neil. “I’d much rather be sitting in front of a computer screen right now!” I swear if I had the opportunity to sail every day, I could live to be 150.
Saturday night brought fireworks right to our doorstep, with a professional show from the island a few hundred yards off the dock. When things got popping, Hallie woke from her sleep, bringing me back inside console her. With a wide-eyed girl staring at the booming coming from the window, I conceded defeat and took her to the kitchen window to watch her first fireworks show.
The Fourth is, obviously, the celebration of our nation’s birth, and I took time to reflect on our country. Though I’m often at odds as to how it’s currently being run, I keep in mind that its the people like those around me who make this country great. Lurking at a place the present terrorist paranoia can’t reach, a current of freedom still runs strong. Friendship and kindness are still extended to strangers. I am hopeful that this country which owes so much to the huddled masses landing on its shores will once again remember its role as leader in this world.