The Fourth of July

We had a great 4th of July, spent at Interlochen and beyond.

The kids had rehearsal until 1 p.m., and being that Mondays are their only days off, our time is golden.  We didn't want to waste a moment.

My boss, Annie, had kindly invited our family over for a barbecue.  Words cannot express what it's like to eat real food again after eating cafeteria food, three times a day, seven days a week.  I accepted without reservation.

When we showed up, I could see that Annie is living the life that I hope to have someday.  A beautiful home in Northern Michigan, complete with pond, landscaping, covered gazebo and walk-out basement!  Her walls are covered with art work done by her and her son, as well as pictures of family, family and more family.  She brought me straight to her washer so that I could throw in a load, no quarters required!

Annie

After that, it was just pure joy.  Aesthetics are an important part of my life.  I like to be surrounded by beauty whether in nature or in my home.  Her home was no exception.

And the food?  Ribs, Michigan sweet corn, coleslaw, potato salad.  The corn was to DIE for.  Seriously.  When I asked where she had gotten sweet corn in July, she told us the craziest thing.  There is a farm down the road that sells it.  She bought it last year, froze it and reheated it for us.  It tasted like it was just picked.  I saw Glo sneak back into the house for no fewer than three full ears of corn.  I LOVE Michigan and all its bounty!!

Then, for dessert, pistachio cake.  Who would have known?  It was a homemade cake with a frozen confection for frosting.  Even Glo had two servings of it.

We could hardly believe it when we looked at the time and two and a half hours had passed!  Such good conversation, and just relaxation (something I don't always feel in our stark accommodations).

We had a reservation at 4:00 at Alwina's Livery for three kayaks and one canoe.  Two years ago, John and I took the girls down the Betsie River, a remote and rarely-visited river just south of Interlochen.  It was a delightful time then, and this visit was no different.

Cooperation...

I was surprised when Mark expressed interest in rowing the canoe.  However, he quickly reminded me that he had the canoeing merit badge and it would be a breeze for him.  Little did he know that Glo would be his partner, being too small to row the kayak.  From moment one, we laughed watching the two of them.  Mark, who claimed to have every canoeing skill, and Glo who had obviously had none.  As the three kayakers headed down the river, we could hear all kinds of "instructing" from Mark, and more yelling from both parties involved.  When they finally came within viewing distance, Mark was heard telling Glo, "I am the money maker in this boat.  Listen to me!"  Anyone who knows Glo knows how that went over!  For the next 90 minutes, it was a comedy of errors.  Mark not knowing how to tell Glo what to do, and Glo trying to do everything but what she was supposed to do.  I seriously don't know how many times they ran into the reeds, or into one of us!  Meanwhile, we three kayakers were in heaven--birds, frogs, lilies, water, beauty.

After the umpteenth time of running ashore, I heard a scream, looked over, and the whole canoe had capsized.  Mark was laughing, Glo was screaming.  When Mark tried to give Glo instruction on how to right the canoe, she gave up on the whole partnership and just swam over to John where she proceeded to hop on the back of his kayak and ride for a while.  In all honesty, it was far more peaceful with the two of them separated :-)

Glo, ditching Mark and hitching a ride with John

Eventually, Hannah and I were relegated to rowing the canoe (which was, by the way, filled with a lot of water).  Glo got her wish and got a kayak, although she found she liked standing in the kayak more than sitting (mostly because she could get her arms far enough out to actually steer).  Hannah and I built up quite a sweat, and eventually I wanted to just jump in the water.  Being Mommy Magnet, everybody followed suit and we were all in the water.  Glo started slinging mud balls at John who couldn't resist going under the water to rinse them off, and arising from the water with arms outstretched, reenacting the emergence of River Monster.

After a while, we got back in the boats, realized that we were one bend away from the livery, and brought the boats to shore.  Glo told Mark that he still had mud on his leg, and when he tried to wipe it off, it didn't go away.  Turns out, he had a LEECH on his leg.  Yes, a bonafide LEECH!

He yanked it off, and John, being our resident science expert, began to expound on the fact that Mark's leg continued to bleed because the leech had injected blood thinners into Mark to make its feeding frenzy easier.  You can imagine how THAT sat with Mark!  We then watched the creature, sitting on the dock. When Mark pointed at it, it actually reached out towards Mark.  Wow!

We headed back to camp, escaping the setting sun and hordes of mosquitoes.  Mark had a dance to attend, I had more loads of laundry to do, and the girls needed to head to bed.  It was a great day indeed!