Nature Note: 4th of July at a Minnesota Resort

As the 4th of July is upon us, I was thinking back to how this time of year is almost as magical as Christmas for me.  I remember going to the Totem Pole in Nisswa and buying Smoke Bombs, Snakes, and Sparklers to light off on the beach – always under adult supervisor of course (wink, wink).  Eventually, this evolved into Bottle Rockets, Black Cat Firecrackers, and Roman Candles.

After a week or so the evenings of Smoke Bombs and Fireworks were replaced by hanging out at the beach on Whitefish Lake after dark, gazing into the night sky waiting and watching for the mysterious meteorites to streak by or to spot the satellites as they crossed through the star-filled skies.

This time of year also brought the prospect of finding multitudes of flashing lights in and around the reeds of the turtle pond, as the fireflies showed off their unique talents.  The bullfrogs provided the background music as they croaked out their “songs” to their heart’s content. Occasionally, we would be treated to a lightning show out on the western horizon, which usually meant an early end to our evening outdoors.  We would wait until the last minute, then race back to the safety of the cabin before the downpour was upon us, sometimes our timing was a bit off and a thorough soaking was the result.

Little did we know then, how these seemingly simple events would have such a lasting impression in our memories.  I hope that over the course of the next few weeks you can go out into the summer evening and create your own memories, or better yet, share some of them with your children, grandchildren, or friends.  You just never know which seemingly innocent event will turn out to be that lasting memory.