Tag Archives: Fireworks

A Morning on the Water and an Evening Under the Fireworks

05 Sunday Jul 2026

Posted by in Boy Scouts, Family, Fishing, Kayaking, Life, Photography, Retirement

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I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

I took advantage of the few hours I had available to go fishing Saturday morning. I didn’t invite my friend Rick on this trip because I wasn’t sure how long my back would hold up. Since the ablation, I haven’t been able to sit in my kayak for very long before the pain starts bothering me.

I launched on the river around 5:30 a.m., and by 10:30 I was ready to head back to the launch. I knew that if Rick had gone with me, he would have wanted to stay out all day, and I knew that just wasn’t going to be possible for me.

The other reason I went alone was that I didn’t want to have to track him down when I was ready to leave. Last week, I told him I planned to head home at 2:00 p.m. By 2:30, he still hadn’t made it back to the launch. I finally left without knowing where he was, and that made me feel pretty uncomfortable.

At least until my back gets better, I think my fishing trips will end around 11:30 each morning. That’s quite a change considering we normally stay on the water until around 4:00 p.m.

Saturday evening, we went to my in-laws’ house on the river. They invited us, along with eight couples from their Bible study group, over for a barbecue and the annual fireworks show put on by their next-door neighbor.

I was genuinely surprised by the quality of the fireworks. It looked like something you’d expect to see at a professional display. I started recording about ten minutes after the show began, and it continued for another ten minutes or so after I stopped. My arm finally gave out from holding my phone up for so long, so I had to call it quits.

https://youtu.be/hIVYBx3J-Q8

As you’ll see in the video, we were very close to where the fireworks were being launched. In fact, I think we may have been a little too close at times!

This was also the first time in about ten years that I was able to spend the Fourth of July at home. In years past, I was always away at Boy Scout summer camp. That meant leaving my wife at home with our two cats, who were terrified by the thunderous fireworks our neighbors set off every year.

It felt good to spend Independence Day with family, enjoy some great barbecue, watch an incredible fireworks display, and still squeeze in a few hours of fishing that morning. Even though my back limited my time on the water, it was still a day well spent.

Retirement Is Close At Hand

07 Saturday Jul 2018

Posted by in Cancer, Leukemia, Nature, Photography

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I’ve been absent of late and for a good reason.  Although the doctor stated during my last oncologist appointment that my medicine is not working, I’m still feeling pretty good so I’m taking advantage of it and getting some things done around the house.  With that being said, I had to increase the dosage by 100mg and it’s starting to take a toll on my breathing.  Not much mind you but just enough to where I know that eventually, I’ll have to have more fluid drained from around my lungs.

I’ve got 39 more days to work and boy am I ready.  It can’t come fast enough. I’m supposed to meet with HR on Tuesday to discuss my retirement and post-retirement insurance.  More about this later.

The last four years have really played havoc around my house.  I’ve been fortunate to have a wife who is willing to cut the grass around the house but the other duties have gone by the wayside. My deck on the back side of the house needed cleaning four years ago and now it’s, well, pathetic.  The deck was black with mold and some of the hand railings needed to be replaced.  For the last three weeks, I have spent the afternoons and weekends cleaning this deck.  I have finished with the inside now to do the outside and then paint or stain next.

I have found the time to do a little bit of photography in the last few months.  I’ve really taken a liking to lightning pictures.  I’ve spent hours waiting on a storm to come through just close enough away that it would make a good picture while staying far enough away that I won’t be a target for a lightning strike.  I’ve had a few storms to come through.

There was a Fourth of July celebration up the street and I was fortunate enough to take some pictures of some fireworks from my front yard.  I didn’t get all I wanted because at the same time I was trying to get my drone off the ground to video the event.  My phone kept locking up so I had to settle with just the pictures.

I am currently sick with a sinus infection.  I went to the doctor today.  The drainage is making me cough and my chest is hurting.  I had plans on washing my truck and cleaning the outside today but that didn’t happen.  Maybe I’ll feel like doing it tomorrow.

Until next time.