I hope everyone enjoyed the fireworks last night. It must have been a perfect night to be out on the water. We watched from our deck until the mosquitoes found us.  Then the view was still perfect from behind the screen in our front door.
     Practicing what I preached, we kept Woody inside. He was totally unconcerned with all the noise, and teased incessantly to go out, so I picked him up, with the intention of just holding him in my arms as we watched, but as soon as he saw the flashes in the sky, my gentle giant turned into a squirming, flesh-ripping armfull of  terror. I dropped him unceremoniously, barely avoiding his extended talons. He landed on the floor easily, no harm done, and was perfectly calm as long as he didn't see the flashes. I had no idea it would be the lights and not the sound that would frighten him. He didn't ask to go out until everything quieted down, and by then it was too late, so he had to be content in the secure, dark garage. Well, he is really never "content" being in the garage, but it takes him some time to figure out  his kitty door is locked and he isn't going anywhere. So then he sometimes perches on the roof of the car where he can keep watch out the windows towards the back lawn and woods. Other times we play the "knock, come in; meow, go into the garage again" game until bedtime. Annoying for him  and for us.
     Another hot day in store for us. Be sure to keep hydrated, stay as cool as you can, and enjoy all the festivities.
     We are happy that our local restaurant, Three Ponds, has expanded into the previously unoccupied space next door to them and are now open for dinner as well as breakfast and lunch. That is good news, and we wish them continued success.
     I took some pictures of the stump the bear tore apart the other day at the edge of our lawn. He hasn't been back - I expect he's finding plenty of other stumps to work on in the woods above us. He (or she) did a good job, and dug out around one of the small logs lying on the ground.