Tag Archives: Fourth of July

Summer Flashback: Flare Night and 4th of July

August 31, 2014 Sharon 1 Comment

Flare Night at Lake Orion was quieter than usual for me this year as most of the family opted out. Tony had gone to Kansas to see his family, so Kate and her boys spent the night. We set up the road flares (without any family men to help!) and waited till 10 p.m. to light them, when the whole perimeter of the lake glowed red.

The Fourth of July was also a little different. Usually we all traipse over to the neighbor’s yard for a clear view of the fireworks, but this year the location changed and we could see most of them from our deck. Fortunately, the painters finished the exterior work in time. The whole gang came over (including our adopted siblings Mike and Chris Gray). John looped twinkly lights along the porch railing and hung my red, white and blue lanterns from India. So festive!

Daily Life, Michigan

SOS – Summer of Stress

July 30, 2013 Sharon 1 Comment

For international teachers (well, probably for ALL teachers), summer is a time to relax and recharge, catch up with friends and family, travel and/or find a little stillness. During the school year, we often daydream of lazy days by our lake, biking on the trails, kayaking, finding our zen at yoga classes, playing with the nephews, maybe roadtripping around the region, drinking quality but affordable wine, grilling and chilling, and so on.

By that definition, this summer has been the anti-summer. Sure, we did those things, but not nearly as much as we wanted to, and not nearly with the usual laid-back seasonal spirit.

Every single member of my immediate family is experiencing a major life event this summer: Meg has a 10-month-old baby and is preparing to join her husband in Korea in a couple weeks; Mike retired from the Air Force and just moved with his wife Summer to England; Kate and John have a new baby AND decided to buy my parents house and let them live in the basement apartment; and my parents are moving into the basement AND buying a winter home in Florida. Although Mike isn’t here in Michigan to share his stress in person, the rest of the gang more than made up for it. For now, Megan and her baby, Kate and her whole family, and my parents are all living in the same house. And the stress they’re feeling? I feel it, too. Sigh…

As for Tony and me, we launched a massive renovation of our lake house, which meant we were tethered to it for most of the summer. We couldn’t wander off much because the workers seemed to have hourly questions, to which our answers were usually uninformed and arbitrary but caused us to second-guess ourselves for the rest of the day. (Did we want the bedroom door to open in or out? Did we want an extra light in the hallway to avoid a dark spot? Did we want clear or frosted glass in the bathroom window?) Although we still tried to enjoy our morning coffee on the porch, the construction noise and heavy metal music blaring from the contractors’ radio drowned out the birds. (This morning’s most notable tune was “The Bitch Came Back.”) A makeshift wall separated our living space from the construction zone, but it was far from soundproof. Sometimes we had to stop ourselves mid-sentence (or mid-fight) when we realized the men on the other side of that flimsy plastic sheet could hear everything we said. Perhaps the most stress-inducing part was the mental image of winged money escaping out of our bank account and flitting away into the distance.

We know the remodeled area of our home will be wonderful when it’s finished. Going for long walks around our island in a futile attempt to relax, we have met many neighbors and made some new friends, giving us a sense of optimism about future summers here. We also know the family issues will resolve soon after everyone unpacks and life gets back to normal. Still, we can’t help having a little pity party about our lost summer, compounding our stress with the knowledge that we’re heading back to India and our jobs in just a few days.

That said, the summer wasn’t a total bust here at the lake. Looking back at my photos, I realized we had a few good times.

Flare Night
This annual event includes a big party at our neighbor’s house, followed by everyone lining their lakefront property with road flares and lighting them at 10 p.m. We shook things up a bit by adding glowsticks to the mix.

Fireworks Night
Lake Orion put on a smashing show this year! During the day, we were happy to have our usual cookout and lake time with the usual guests (geez, I didn’t take any photos of the Grays) and special visitor, Cami.

Family Tine
As always, I was super excited to spend time with my family, especially the growing gaggle of nephews.

There is ONE big drawback to having little boys at your house all the time.

As the Summer of Stress draws to an end and as I read back over this post (and realize how whiny I sound), I must admit I feel pretty lucky. I have two days left in the States. My goal is to breathe in this fresh air, kiss and cuddle all the little people in my life, and feel grateful for summers off, no matter how chaotic they may be.

Daily Life, Michigan

One hail of an Independence Day party

July 10, 2011 Sharon 2 Comments

As an oldest child with admitted control issues and a progressively worsening case of obsessive-compulsive disorder, I am a list-making, plan-following organizer who is not a big fan of spontaneity. However, sometimes when the rest of the world goes off-script, it turns out better than expected. Our Fourth of July celebration at Lake Orion (which actually took place on the Second of July) was one of those times.

We had invited the usual motley crew – my family and a few family friends. We had the awesome Deluxe Screened Gazebo filled with lawnchairs, beach towels, and lake toys. We had purchased a button-popping amount of food and drinks. I had spent hours chopping for my gargantuan veggie platter. I had picked up a chocolate cake with buttercream frosting from Kroger’s (my most missed snack when I’m overseas) with frosting-inscribed birthday wishes for America. As the day progressed, the kayak and paddle boat were getting a good workout, and the brats were on the grill. All was going according to the usual July 4th agenda.

John poses next to my beautiful veggie platter.

The men fire up the grill.

Nico and Mike fish from the dock.

Britt takes Paul out for a ride.

Suddenly, the sky went dark and a bit green. Surely it was about to rain. Should we take down the Deluxe Screened Gazebo? Nah, said my dad. My brother-in-law, John, swore he didn’t mind grilling in the rain. Cool.

Next thing we knew, marble-sized hail rained down with gale-force winds, pelting everyone and filling the Deluxe Screened Gazebo’s roof with ice balls until a plastic joint cracked into pieces, and the whole lovely thing collapsed in a heap. While we ladies watched from the dry dining room, our brave men salvaged our belongings and frolicked in the hail. John even continued tending to our dinner, risking a concussion.

Check out the video!

Our lakeside picnic moved indoors, but just as we sat down to eat, our power went out. This was status quo for us in Laos, but we weren’t as prepared for an electricity-free evening in America. We lit our few candles, but I scooped out cake and ice cream in virtual darkness.

The storm passed in about an hour, but our power didn’t return until around 1 a.m.

Paul picks up all the hail.

Eventually, we paraded to the lakefront to watch the fireworks show, but it also fizzled. According to the gossip mill, (a) one of the barges caught fire and a technician was badly injured, or (b) the power outage precluded setting off the cannons. A fireworks do-over is scheduled for tonight.

We had planned a sleep-over with my sisters, their hubbies and the nephews, but nobody seemed excited about staying with no power, so they all traipsed back to my parents’ house. It was too dark to clean up, and I didn’t want to keep opening the fridge to put away our few leftovers, so Tony and I just crashed on our basement sofa-bed (where the temperature was about 30 degrees cooler than upstairs).

When we got up the next morning, we walked drop-jawed into the kitchen. It looked like a bear had ransacked the place overnight. Cauliflower left on the countertop had stunk up the entire house. Frosting coated my toaster and coffee maker. Chip dip caked the kitchen island and chairs. Piles of sopping wet towels dotted the floor among scattered leaves, sticks and dirt tracked in during the storm. You would have thought we had a kegger frat party instead of a family gathering with mostly 40-to-60-somethings. There was nothing to do but laugh and clean.

Although I’m sad about the Deluxe Screened Gazebo’s demise, I have to admit the storm added a fun twist to an otherwise run-of-the-mill Fourth of July celebration.

Daily Life, Michigan

Happy birthday, America!

July 6, 2010 Sharon 3 Comments

Our little island does not mess around when it comes to celebrating Independence Day.

Friday was Flare Night. We didn’t really know what that meant, but we inferred that we were supposed to buy enough road flares to line our lakefront. What time? My sister, Kate, had heard we should light them at 7:30 p.m. The sun was still blazing brightly at that time, so it seemed ridiculous to light the flares. None of us had done any real research on this Bellevue Island tradition.

My parents, sisters, bros-in-law, and nephews joined Tony and me to play in the lake all afternoon and wait for the mysterious flares to light up. We began to think it was a practical joke on the dumb newcomers to the neighborhood. As the sun set around 9:45, my mom just couldn’t wait anymore. “Light the *@#% flares!” she said. “We need to get the kids to bed!”

Britt and John got to work sinking the flares in to the ground through pieces of aluminum foil (to protect the grass – a tip from our friendly neighbor, Bob). We lit the flares and reveled in the red glow, expelling a collective sigh of relief as we saw the rest of the shoreline light up minutes later.

The next morning, the island was abuzz with gossip about the new dorks on Buena Vista who lit their flares 10 minutes early. We got the scoop from our tenant, Don, who had received a late-night phone call. How did everyone know to light them at 10 p.m.? We’re so out of the loop. Oh well …

John and Paul

Nico is very jumpy. He jumps off the dock to Britt.

He jumps over a beer bottle.

He jumps on Megan.

Nico counts beer bottles. He kept telling us to hurry up and finish our beers so he could add them to his collection.

Meg and Britt.

The Jimenez posse.

John and Britt succumb to mother-in-law pressure to light the flares.

Are you happy now, Mom? Everybody’s laughing at us.

Waiting for the rest of the lake to light up!

Saturday was the big Lake Orion fireworks show. By lunchtime, people in town were spreading out blankets and setting up lawn chairs to claim spots with the best views. At the lake, we pitched a little tent for shade and splashed in the water with family and a few friends. The Grays brought fishing gear and a kayak, which provided endless entertainment. Everyone contributed tasty treats to the picnic.

Although we had received invitations to several neighborhood parties, we had so much fun goofing around, eating and chatting that we didn’t leave our beach until it was time for the fireworks to start. At that time, we all grabbed a chair or mat and plodded next door to the gorgeous property of our neighbors, Kim and David. They live on a peninsula that offered perfect views of the fireworks and boat-filled lake.

After living in China for four years, I am not easily impressed by fireworks. However, some of our guests commented that these were the best they’ve ever seen, especially the finale. Tony and I shared a derisive giggle because we saw fireworks in Shanghai as loud and colorful as this finale, only they weren’t the finale. They went on like that for hours. However, we decided to celebrate that – unlike some countries – America pays workers a fair wage, allows fireworks sellers to make an honest profit, and imposes safety restrictions on the explosives, effectively limiting the size of local fireworks shows. Anyway, no fireworks show could bring me as much joy as sharing our home and lake with the people we care about.

Patrick fishes while his brother, Liam, kayaks.