2 At The Cabin: Fourth of July at the Lake

This year's 4th at the lake is a bit different from many.

The majority of cabins on the lake are weekend getaways rather than full-time residences, so the Fourth of July weekend is typically when lots of folks are here. There are fewer boats on the lake this year, which indicates fewer weekend visitors. The lake is very low, and stumps that have been safely below water are now exposed or very near the surface.

If you look over the roof of our boat house toward the fishing platform, you can see the black dots of stumps now exposed by the low lake level. (Click on the picture for a larger view.) This poses obvious hazards for boaters and skiers.

There will be no fireworks this evening - a disappointment to many but necessary because of the severity of the drought. We can usually sit on our dock and watch folks all around the lake shooting off their own shows over the water.

Another big event is the annual boat parade. It was held this year as usual, but I was so preoccupied with watering the lawn, giving dogs much-needed baths, and getting a head start on preparing some things for a chili dog/hot dog lunch at work on Wednesday that I forgot about it! I wouldn't have entered the parade by myself, but it is quite fun when we have visitors here! The fence guys cut the electrical line to the boathouse, so I could not have gotten the boat hoist to function anyway!

Here are some pictures from our last effort a few years ago...we did not win but had a great time!

Terry and his sister, Grace, working on the flags and streamers

...adding the pièce de résistance

We obviously did not have enough balloons on our boat! (This is one of the winning boats.)

After parading the length of the lake, the boats pass by the judge's stand in the swim and ski area of the lake and then await the announcement of the winning boats in each category.