Snakes, Sandbars, & Fireworks

***Warning, this post is long!***

As many of you know, Emily and I love the lake. It lacks the stickiness that you get at the beach and you don't get sand everywhere afterwards (on yourself, in the car, etc.). We feel like it can often be more relaxing than the beach at times. We are lucky enough to have some family friends/god parents (God Bless Dan and Jere...mostly Jere for putting up with Dan's shenanigans) with a lake house on Lake Oconee between Atlanta and Augusta (a good 3hrs and 50 minutes from our driveway in Helena). We usually venture over there for a few days at Spring Break, Memorial Day, and the 4th of July. With the crew we have, there is no lack of comedy/drama every time. Whether it is an injury, a klutzy moment, or some crazy story from William/Dan/Wes, something always happens. In addition, it is Maggie's absolute favorite place on earth and we can not keep her out of the water. As we write this, she is still sleeping off her week of swimming.

Who knew a dog could climb up a ladder?

This past Memorial Day we had the added bonus of killing 3 snakes at the lake. I shot 2 with my shotgun and the 3rd small one was killed with a gig. Up to this point, this has been the major downside to the lake for Emily, since several people had spotted a few in past visits. The killing trifecta brought smiles to the faces of us and the neighbors alike, but a large moccasin that had been spotted was not among the members of the death list. He/she remained loose and on the prowl.

Well lucky for us, he reared his big ugly triangular head again the morning of the 4th. Jere spotted him in the early morning and raised the threat level to orange (is that elevated?). Ryan and Emily tried unsuccessfully to kill him under the dock as he was trying to eat a large catfish he had killed. He managed to avoid all attempts, even surving a "shock and awe" attack using bottle rockets. Everyone took turns on patrol, and we often found him staring at us from crevices, just beyond the reach of our death blows.. About the time most of us were taking our after lunch nap, Jere spotted ole no shoulders again trying to feast on his earlier catfish kill. Fran was able to pin him with the gig behind the neck which sent Emily into alarm mode, waking everyone up from their naps. Soon everyone was headed to the dock. Dan used the other gig to pry him from the water where he had wrapped around the sprinkler control wire. Once free, Emily provided 3 instruments of execution (2 hoes and a shovel) with which his head was cut off and Dan & Ryan buried him. Little did we know that the snake would curse us a few times the rest of the weekend...

The hunters

The headless beast

INJURY #1
The afternoon of the 4th was spent at the redneck yacht club/sand bar area on Oconnee. Lots of boats and people hang out in the middle of the lake where the water is waist deep and we all joined in. It is usually uneventful, but as Ryan and Fran were tossing the football, injury #1 took place. Fran took a bottle/rock to the foot and was bleeding profusely between his toes. After a visit to the Putnam County General where Fran needed 8 stitches, we all learned that shoes are not optional at the sandbar anymore. Due to nature of the emergency room visit we decided to not make the trip to the Reynolds fireworks. Some were relieved that there would be no opportunity for Captain Nemo moments where the pontoon gets swamped from the 100s of boats rushing home after the show. Safety was all in the eye of the beholder this night though...

INJURY #2
On the way to the lake we stopped to buy fireworks in Lineville off I-20, since large fireworks are hard to find in Georgia. We got a great supply and were sure that we could put on quite the show in the slew this year. We were unable to find our notes where we rated what we had bought last year. One of the ones we did recognize as being good when we were buying was "Hard to Beat", so we bought 2 of them. Last year we set a piece of plywood on the dock to serve as a launch pad to protect the dock. This year Dan could not find the plywood, but did have a piece of Freesia carpet that he thought would work. We found out it was not near sturdy enough and the "Hard to Beat" fell over and started shooting across the lake. At first everyone thought it was pretty cool to witness some horizontal fireworks. However, they soon started heading closer and closer towards the bank where everyone was sitting. Mass hysteria ensued with people running for cover. Dan, being the good Army Ranger he was, took a direct hit in the arm and jumped in the lake yelling his arm was "eat up with fire". Luckily, Matthew caught the whole thing on tape and we will upload the video when they get back from Alaska. Sure enough Dan has 3 pretty good welts to remind him of his 4th experience. This lesson taught us the importance of a sturdy launch pad on the dock. Nonetheless, after some neosporin, the show continued and we did not have to revisit Putnam County General Hospital.

Dan proving he was master over the fireworks by lighting the same one that hit him the night before

Yes, this is a firework we shot off, not done by a professional

The gang assembled on the bank for the show

Injury #3 and Avoided Injury #4
The other drama occurred when a storm happened on Saturday afternoon. The winds were so strong that they blew the anchored seadoos away from the dock, and one even completely escaped and started floating across the lake. It was lightning pretty bad so all we could do was keep an eye on it and wait to undertake our recovery mission. Ryan, Dan, and Matthew were elected to go get the seadoo and reposition the one that had drifted. As the storm let up, Ryan and Dan headed down from the house. Matthew was not paying attention and was being left behind. Naturally he was egged on by the people in the house to hurry up and get down to the dock with Dan and Ryan. In his haste to get out of the house, he ran right through the screen doors. Of course in this group, that provided quite the laughs and ribbing. Anyway, as we were out retrieving the jetski the lightning started again, but luckily we were not electrocuted.

All in all it was a great 4th. Thank God we live in a country where we are free to travel and celebrate however we want. Lets hope it remains that way after this election. This reminds me of a quote we saw recently, true or not, it does sound like something he might say:

"My friends we live in the greatest nation in the history of the world. I hope you'll join with me as we try to change it."

-- A Foolish Senator from Chicago...