Fourth of July: Exploring lake culture at its finest
"Welcome to the lake." The greeting seemed to ring out from the air, with its smoky firework residue hanging lazily around the atmosphere and bursts of song and laughter echoing clearly across Loon Lake.
I was sitting on the deck of my aunt's and uncle's lake house, crunched in a cirlce of family members on July 5, when I realized I felt really full of love.
Love for my family. Love for my country. Love for being a kid. Love for hearing stories from an era of times past, but not forgotten. Love for a life of freedom through Christ to pursue the passions He's given me. Love for enjoying life right now, just as it is.
Loving lake culture
If you've grown up around or spent much time immersed in (pun intended) lake culture, maybe you've experienced something similar to what I did. Somehow, being at the lake seems to bring out everyone's best.
Have you ever noticed that? Everyone waves at each other. Nobody seems to be capable of holding a negative attitude for long. Maybe it's the soothing serenity of the waves or the thrilling prospect of a day well-spent, but hanging out at the lake always seems to lull me into the bliss of happy-go-lucky-vacation-mode.
That being said, I had a wonderful Independence Day spent with my friends in Huntington and family at Loon Lake in Columbia City, Indiana. We swam, we boated, we ate, we watched the lighted boat parade (this was a first for me!) and — like all true Americans — we participated in a fireworks duel with the neighbors. An added bonus surprise came when sky lanterns were lit up and sent off during the firework show. Although there were far fewer lanterns than in the movie, I felt like I was playing a character in Disney's "Tangled." Every girl's dream, right?
Thanks for reading about my fifth TRAVENTURE. Hope you had a fantastic Fourth of July weekend, too! Gotta love those stars and stripes ... For at least one day out of the year.
Loon Lake of Columbia City, Indiana, takes up 222 acres and is 92 feet at its deepest point.
In its third year, the lighted boat parade challenges lake-goers to deck out their boats in prime U.S.A. gear and putt around the lake.
Water activities galore!
My mom and I made a delicious layered ice cream cake for the holiday. It had red velvet cake on the bottom, vanilla ice cream, blueberry sorbet and then was slathered in real, homemade whipped cream. Decorations were blueberries and red velvet cake crumbles.
