Last night we ate our super on the deck. It was a very pleasant evening with a little breeze to keep things cool. There is a bit of smoke in the air, but nothing like the day before when smoke from the Alaska and Canada wildfires drifted into the hills and hung like smog in a city. The wind cleared things out yesterday and it was pleasant to take our salads and ice tea out to the deck to eat.

We were somewhat entertained by our neighbors getting ready to head off for their July 4 holiday weekend. We assumed from all of the activity next door that they had today off from work, because they were definitely getting ready to head off on an excursion. Vehicle #1 is their 35 foot motor home. It is a large and impressive vehicle that leaves little room for anything else when it is in the driveway. This isn’t a problem for our neighbors who don’t seem to mind parking their vehicles on their lawn (and occasionally on mine) and cutting across their front lawn to access their back yard, which is a general parking area for dune buggies, lawn mowers, extra trailers, 4-wheelers and other items. Their home has a rather steep driveway with a level area in front of the garage, but the motor home is too long to get completely level in their driveway. It took them a couple of days to get the motor home packed and ready to go. They spent the evenings carrying things to and from the motor home and opening various storage compartments to make sure they had what they would need for the weekend. It seemed to me possible that the motor home was being over loaded. I don’t know the weight capacity of such a vehicle, but it starts out heavy and they aren’t exactly designed to haul a large capacity. The motor home left Wednesday evening and we noticed that it was followed by a car that returned later, so we assumed that it was taken to a campground, perhaps within an hour or an hour and a half’s drive and left there.

The second vehicle in the fleet left around 6 pm last evening. It was a 4-wheel-drive sport utility vehicle pulling a heavy duty tandem axle trailer with a four-wheeler, a side-by-side off-road vehicle, two plastic kayaks, several gas cans and a few other things piled high and held on by quite a lot of ratchet straps. The trailer seemed a bit large for the tow vehicle. I pull that size trailer with my 3/4 ton pickup, but the mid-size SUV seemed a bit small for the load.

Vehicle number 3 left about an hour later. It was their Hummer H3 pulling their big water ski boat. I think the boat is about 25 feet long. It rides on its own tandem axle trailer. There were four people in the hummer, which was packed full of suitcases, food and other supplies. I noticed that they were also packing several items into the boat once the Hummer was full. It, too, was probably over loaded. Hopefully they don’t have far to go.

Off they went, joining a whole lot of other people who are heading to various lakeshore campgrounds throughout the hills. We have a lot of people who will be celebrating Independence Day in the hills. We are, after all, a tourist destination and people love to come to see our attractions and enjoy our beautiful scenery and peaceful forests.

I don’t blame them. I love the hills and feel very fortunate to live here. Who knows? Maybe my little Subaru isn’t properly loaded with a kayak and a canoe on the roof. I probably look like a tourist to most of the other tourists.

As we sat on the deck we saw pickups pulling 5th wheel trailers with a boat on a trailer behind the camper. We saw lots of people heading out with a whole lot of gear. There are a lot of people whose July 4 plans don’t involve traveling light this year.

But I know something that the majority of the tourists and even most of the locals don’t know. You can have a lake to yourself in the hills if you get out before 6 a.m. I did it yesterday and I’m going to do the same thing today - perhaps tomorrow, too. I like to paddle and I need the exercise and though I certainly don’t mind sharing the lake with others, it is rather nice to experience the peace and calm that reigns when there are no jet skis or motorboats on the lake.

Yesterday Sheridan Lake was glassy smooth and the mist was rising off of the water as the full moon set and the sun began to peek out between the hills. The warm glow would soon disperse the mist, but for a few magical moments, I was able to paddle directly between the full moon and the promise of a cloud-free sunrise. With a wooden boat and a wooden paddle, I can be very quiet. The geese ignore me and the great blue herons allow me to come much closer than they would tolerate a motorized vehicle before taking to the air with their prehistoric squawk. Even though the lake is very familiar to me, I can feel like a first-time explorer when I am out on the lake alone in the wee hours of the day.

I’m guessing that my neighbors won’t be out before 6 this morning, based on how hard they were working at 7 last night. Their style of a weekend off looks like a lot of work to their neighbors. But then I don’t own a boat that I can’t pick up and load by myself. We have a very nice camper, but it doesn’t require the attentiveness of a bus driver to head out into the hills. And we can turn it around in our own driveway.

The thing is that I don’t need more equipment to enjoy the good gifts of this life. A little canoe and a paddle are enough. I guess I’m just too into relaxation to go to all of the work required of our neighbor to spend a few days off in the hills.

Happy July 4 to all!

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