Summer holidays are filled with family and friends and creating memories. Also the great food. I think most of us immediately think of the amazing food that is traditionally served on July 4th. Foods slow cooked on the grill, maybe that first home grown tomato, and certainly choices like corn on the cob, baked beans, dressed eggs, potato salad, and vegetable casseroles. And sometimes that fantastic dessert that shows up in red, white, and blue colors, or that homemade ice cream.

Yesterday, July 4th, was a long, magical day for me, and the night even more magical. My next door neighbors, Mike and Maritza, always have their beautiful family and friends over to play in their pool and share a wonderful meal together. And this year did not disappoint. It was a very hot and sunny day here in Louisville, and I am sure lots of boaters were at the many lakes here in Kentucky. Any type of body of water was a blessing to jump in, a source of reprieve from the hot sun. My darling Man, Alan, and I, walked over around noon to join the fun and within minutes we were in the water. So refreshing! We played a swimming pool game called Monkey in the Middle, which basically involved throwing a football from one end of the pool to the other, with one or two players in the middle trying to intercept the ball. It was a lot of fun and great exercise which built up a big appetite.

My next door neighbor family had decided on a taco bar to save Mike from grilling out in the heat. We also had a ripe, red watermelon and Alan’s delicious, homemade peanut butter balls to feast on, and Mike’s dad, Mark, had made a sumptuous Lemon-Strawberry Cheesecake. I wish I would have taken a picture of it to show here on my blog. Let me tell you it was worthy of any cookbook. It was a gorgeous cheesecake, sitting about four inches tall, covered in red strawberries with strawberry sauce, and the creamy, lemony yellow middle, the cheesecake itself, was thick and velvety, encased in a flaky graham cracker crust. Yummy!

Normally out here in the country where Our Treehouse resides, faithfully guarded by Grandmother Tree, the nighttime of July 4th has a few loud firecrackers off in the distance with some sporadic fireworks. Not this year! Together Alan and I viewed fireworks from the outdoor deck off the kitchen of Our Treehouse. More and more fireworks showed up in the sky, blasting off colors like red, silver, gold, blue and green. As the colorful display continued above the Tall Beings, we decided to walk over to the farm across the road and view the horizons from the level ground. Never has this country road been so lit up! We could turn in all four directions, north, south, east, and west, and the horizons were shimmering with color and lights. On and on and on, for at least an hour the fireworks shows continued. It was “eye candy” in the sky!

I am not a big fan of the loud booms the firecrackers gave voice too. I also prayed for all the other beings living out in the surrounding woods, fields, and ponds. I imagine all the loud noises and blasting lights produced much discomfort. Yet the bull frogs kept up their croaking sounds, undeterred by the temporary environmental changes. Perhaps it was the glorious moon shining high up in the sky that they focused on to maintain their regular routine. The phase the current moon is in is called the Waxing Gibbous. It is three fourths full and was a bright light projecting through the darkness of the night, offering me comfort, too. The fireworks were magical, exploding three hundred and sixty degrees all around us. But, the moon was the real show stopper for me. Afterall, its luminous presence was lighting up in many skies all over the world. It’s incredible the same moon that we were viewing was the same moon people could see across the oceans, surrounded by an infinite number of stars. That is the ultimate display of fireworks in the sky!

c   Love, Joan