4th of July -- Everything is exploding!

Luna's longtime boss invited us up to her home in Birch Bay for the 4th. We stayed 2 nights and had a really good time. Someone should make a documentary film about this little town's 4th celebrations. They go all out. While the town's government doesn't host fireworks, the people invite all their friends up and each spend $1,000 on dangerous, sparkly wonders. We guesstimated that perhaps $500,000 were spent on fireworks, which could be seen by everyone else, all night, in the horseshoe-shaped bay.

I didn't have experience with personal fireworks, so I was hella scared to hold Roman candles, but they were awwwwesome. (Pictured = Darren and Barb)

Things of note: the moon, the water, the sunset, the ungodly amounts of smoke from the fireworks, the fire with which we toasted marshmallows.

Our group's stash. (Firework packaging = incredibly ridiculous and awesome.)

The camera died before I could take too many photos.  =0(

Smoked tofu our hosts made, our marshmallows (why did we only bring one pack?), and the skeleton of a sand dollar mysteriously turned green.

Besides fireworks and great food, the weekend included badminton, a ridiculously small-town parade, and Lupin chasing lots of seagulls and one huge bald eagle as we walked maybe a mile out from shore during low tide.
(Imagine if Lupin had killed a bald eagle on the 4th of july!)

What must Lupin have thought, leaving behind our home (this was his first night sleeping elsewhere since we adopted him), to drive far away late at night to a place where everything (everything, everything, I mean, firecrackers were thrown into the bonfire as a warm-up) everything, everything is exploding. Waking in the morning to wander chest-deep (his chest) into the sea, past the snails, then the seagrass, the sand dollars, the crabs, where the water tasted salty, started to get deeper, the apocalypse, never to see home again? But wait, we turned around! Back to shore! Where everything (everything) was still exploding!!!!!!

Actually, he handled the fireworks pretty well. The other dogs had to be drugged, but he did okay in the house where they were quieter. And during the day, he looooved sunbathing on the deck.

And then, hooray, we drove home! His home still existed! Phew!

This is actually a drawing our friend Aaron drew of/for us. When we came home from Thailand, it was waiting for us, aside a plate of cookies his lovely partner Emily baked for us.

The end.