Fourth of July

A day late and a dollar short, but here is my blog for the fourth.  It's become a tradition in my family to go to Lake Tahoe for Fourth of July.   The fireworks are spectacular, even if the crowds and the drive are horrible.I haven't gone back in a year because of the drive, but really its worth the effort. This year was no exception in the regard to crowds.  There were a group of young Liberians who insisted on showering the entire south shore with loud, obnoxious music and rude behavior. They smoked my family off our own porch.

There was another family right next to us who's kid climbed a small structure that held a fire extinguisher.  Of course, the thing broke under his weight and they were very rude about what happened, blaming the structure and not the child or their own lack of supervision.   Unfortunate circumstances.

Despite these things, however, everything was still enjoyable.  The fireworks are always the highlight and afterwards I can sit and watch all the boats on the lake make their way back in the dark.  There is the sound of many roaring engines, the lapping of the waves, the distant rumble of the echoing fireworks.  Then, everything becomes quiet and still.  It stays that way after, and Lake Tahoe becomes the tranquil place I truly love.

My grandfather came here when he was a child with his father.  Together with his brothers they piled into a car and worked the lake over at Meek's Bay.  My great grandpa single-handedly built a lot of the benches and the pier there, supposedly.  The story goes that the heir to Meek's bay offered the bay and their house to my great grandpa for a hundred thousand dollars.  Of course, this was the depression and my great grandpa didn't have that kind of money as a teacher.  It is the thought that counts though.

The tradition continues on in me, and I hope it will continue in my children and grandchildren.  There is a sense of peace that I find going up there.  It's a thing I cannot accurately capture in words.  I promised I would go back sooner than I had last time, and its a promise I hope to keep.