Back to the Fourth of July

So my "really cool post" now lacks due to technical difficulties.  Don't worry.  I'm figuring things out to get you a higher quality visual product.  I know you appreciate it.

It had to do with the Fourth of July celebration in Copper Harbor.  I started the day actually watching the parade up close for my first time.  I've been in the parade before, throwing candy, but this time I stood along the road and watched it.  It lasted nine minutes.  Ha!

The energy I felt from the spectators, the drivers, the wavers and the candy-throwers was intense.  High spirits, smiling faces and good times were in the mix.  I'm glad I went to experience that.  It made "The 4th" a little more tolerable from a server's perspective.

And from a server's perspective, that was the least busy I have felt on the 4th of July.  One shift at Zik's was slow too, about 6 years ago.  Maybe they were both Thursdays???  I don't know, but the 5th sure was crazy!  And the 6th, well, the power was out from 1 pm to 7 pm, so the Harbor Haus didn't get to open.

Hold up.  I skipped the fireworks.  Now, I shot the display with a 5-second time lapse, and took a video of the best grand finale I have ever seen.  I was tickled that I decided to straight up record that grand finale.  However, the latter is nowhere to be found.  Sorry!  So here is a last-chance attempt at capturing that spectacular site.

WATCH THE FIREWORKS TIME LAPSE HERE

A perfectly sunny, nearly bugless weekend turned on us quickly.  We spent the last couple days in a fog.  Not just a mental fog, but a man-you-can't-even-see-Porter's-Island-from-the-shore fog.  Drive up the hill past Mohawk, and they had sunshine and 80-something degrees!  We shivered in the 50 degree fog.  Good thing I realize that you can't have it all.

More and more flowers are popping up, though!  They are little fireworks in the grass, and they smell marvelous.  I've already started collecting some for tinctures.  A little wild rose tincture does wonders in the middle of winter!

I feel like I should apologize.  This past winter and spring I got you used to my videos and pictures and somewhat timely posts.  Well, guess what?  I am working at least 50 hours a week -- running around and "Yes, Ma'am," and "Thank you, Sir," and "Have a wonderful vacation; I'd be happy to answer your questions about the area."  And I am.  But it takes a LOT of energy to keep that up.  Please be patient with me throughout the summer.  I want to keep you entertained and updated.  Only three more months to go.  Then I am all yours.

Sky Wars

The exquisite firework display from Porter's Island is really the main reason most people come up to da Harbor for the Fourth of July.  The folks of the town go through grand efforts to raise money for these sky dazzlers, and the fire department and other fellas volunteer their whole night to shoot them off.

Last night, as the rain clouds traded places with the sunshine, people wondered what was going to happen. "Will they shoot of the fireworks in the rain?"  Trust me.  The volunteers listed above don't go through all that to get rained out.

I can only tell you of the spectacle from my point of view.  I was on the north side of the Harbor Haus facing Porter's Island.  As we waited for the show to begin, our attention was shifted to another part of the sky.  "Is that... it is!"  The northern lights opened the show with some green missile-like tricks.  Shooting heavenward from all different places in the sky.  People were oohing and ahhing before the first tube was lit.  How awesome is that?

When the fireworks started, the display was really quite impressive.  Lots of shells blew three or four times in one shot!  Huge and colorful.  Definitely some new ones I have never seen before.  One of them made me think of a bubble gum ball machine.  

And as another storm cloud rolled in, the rainbow bursts were matched with lightening bolts, and the exploding shells were echoed with thunder.  It was like they were trying to show each other up!

The rain started again, and the drops falling from the sky sparkled their own splendor when the lights flickered just right.  So what if we got a little wet?  That was one of the greatest displays of man and nature together.  It's almost like they planned it like that!

Well, cheers to all the folks who made it happen, and cheers to the FIFTH of July!  We made it through another one, Copper Harbor!

Fourthofjuly

Ahhh, the sixth of July. The last few days have been crazy. Cars. People. Kids. Dogs. Bikers. Boats. Mountain bikes. Pedestrians. Shoppers. Drunkards. Campers. More kids. The town fills up for the Independence Day celebration here in da Harbor. And now, many of them have gone back home.

The fireworks this year were, once again, better than ever. Have you ever been up here for the show? It's pretty amazing. I would imagine Washington D.C. might have a better show, but this little town is pretty top notch. Remember all those people I listed in the previous paragraph? That's why most of them came here -- to oooh and ahhh for darn near half an hour.

As I was watching the show along the shoreline, I was contemplating whether the fireworks are so great here because the firework buyers pick a lot of neat colors, shapes and sizes or because this little town, that holds multiple fundraising efforts to buy fireworks, has such a primo show. I knew the latter was the answer, and I smiled with pride between my own ooohs and ahhhs to know that I was part of what made it all possible.

So way to go Copper Harbor, for another successful Fourth of July!

Now let me bring you out of the sky and back down to earth. In the ditches along the road on my commute to work, the roses, hairy vetch, hawkweed and lupines have been replaced by St. John's wort, daisies, mallow, yarrow and buttercups. I'll will let you google any of those species that sound intriguing. I like the variety of how the ditches and fields change colors throughout the summer.

And... the cherries are ripe! All the berries are in season, except the thimbles. I haven't had a chance to get out and pick lately, but I've still gotten a fix of one type or another every day. You know how I need my fix!