Swensons' Adventures: Content being Contented

With the help of the Federal Government we were able to shorten last week much like we did on the last posting. Having the Fourth of July on Saturday meant that Cheri and I had Friday off as a holiday. Instead of racing up after work on Thursday and fighting the Holiday traffic, we decided to stay at home, do some food prep, sleep in a little on Friday, get six weeks worth of recycling materials out of the Garden Shed and to the Transfer Station, and then head up to Andover on Friday afternoon. Deb, Scott, Dan, Tim, Laura and Laura's friend Lauren were already settled into the cottage for the week, so Cheri and I planned on staying nearby at Nana and Papa's. Arriving on Friday afternoon around cocktail hour, it didn't take us long to force a cork out of a bottle of wine and begin to sample the wares. Although the skies were overcast, the scenery was pleasant and the wine developed some nice legs sitting down by the water.

It also didn't take to long to begin one of the best traditions of the Fourth...the searing of the beef!

Scott managed to find some great pieces of meat—Filets and NY Strips—and they were carefully seasoned and placed on the grill.

Of course, at the same time serious discussions and lemon-drop martinis were underway inside the cottage.

Steaks, potato salad, peas, some more wine…a great time was had by all.

Later Cheri and I headed back to Nana and Papa’s for the evening.

The next morning we lounged around and waited for Dad to show up and ride up with us to the annual Andover Fourth of July parade. This parade is small town Americana and we always enjoy the experience.

After settling Dad in along the parade route with a friend of his from the Drum and Bugle Corp (George and his wife Helen) we went off to explore the flea market, the reviewing stand and to get the obligatory French fries.

Tim came in uniform, so it was fun to see the interest of many of the young ladies as he passed by; just ask Cheri and Deb…there’s something about a man in uniform…

Now was also a good time for Cheri to catch up with her cousin Jen and J.B. Turner before the parade began.

Bill Leiber, who announces the parade and activities and is a retired Air Force Major, was also glad to see Tim and Dan on the reviewing stand. I tried to get Bill to let the crowd know that Tim is single and we could hold a raffle for a date as a fund-raiser…it didn’t go anywhere.

And then it was parade time. You can see a smattering of the bands, floats and activities in the pictures below.

For an early version of your moment of Zen—and to experience the sights and sounds of the parade—click on each of the photos below.

From Fourth of July 2009

As soon as the last members of the parade passed by the heavy clouds started to open up and give us a few sprinkles. Fortunately we had parked ourselves right across the road from the Town Office and School Parking Lot where we had left the vehicle. A few quick goodbyes to Dad’s friends and we were across the road and into the car.

No sooner then we got in and closed the doors that it started to really rain…heavy! A few seconds outside would be like standing in a shower. I had left the sunroof tilted up during the parade, but luckily we were in the car before anything came in.

We headed back to Nana and Papa’s to take a bit of a break—what some would call a nap—before gathering ourselves up and heading out to the cottage.

Back at the lake we were greeted by a larger number of Whitneys. Scott’s brother Steve had arrived along with his wife Cha and Scott and Steve’s mother Adeline. People spread out across the cottage, the lake front, and the hammock. Tim had been cleaning up the sunfish and he took it out for the first sail of the season. Once he came in I jumped at the opportunity to go for a sail and then soon after I came in Dan took the boat for a spin. The wind was great and it made for very enjoyable sailing.

As the afternoon wound down it became time to once again light up the grill and sear some meat. This time we would go on a little healthier—other people’s opinion, not necessarily mine—route and have some fish.

Scott grilled them up like steaks and it wasn’t long before we had another great meal on the table. We had a separate bowl of the mango-peach salsa on the table so people could doctor up the fish to their liking.

There was then some time for water-skiing, swimming, kayaking, reading by the beach, listening to music, and even a few more people napping. It was at this point the Steve pointed out that everyone seemed content being contented.

Deb had started marinating mahi-mahi earlier in the day. She covered each of the pieces with a mango-peach salsa and let them sit in the refrigerator for several hours.

The evening progressed to the gloaming, and soon it was dark enough for the lakeside fireworks. For those of you that have not had this opportunity, let me point out that Tim Moran, who is two cottages over to the right when facing the water, puts on one of the best firework displays I have ever seen—including several towns, cities and Disney! He throws a large party for friends, his children and his children’s friends (it becomes a tent city in the yard behind their cottage) and then fires off a huge display.

One of the great advantages of this show is our ability to sit out on the dock and have the fireworks almost directly overhead. Below is a small display of my non-professional attempt at taking pictures of fireworks without a tripod and only bracing the camera against my body.

If you’d like an extremely small sample of the fireworks click on this single photo.

From Fourth of July 2009

After the fireworks we covered up the boat by moonlight—it gave us someplace else to sit during the show—and then we headed back to Nana and Papa’s for the night.

The next morning Cheri and I got up for an early morning bicycle ride along the old railroad bed from East Andover to Potter Place. It was a great ride and when we got back we took advantage of the nice weather to sit out on the deck with Dad and Nana while sharing stories and drinking coffee. We spent most of the rest of the day once again sitting by the lake at the cottage and were content being contented.

To see all of the pictures of the weekend click on the panoramic picture below.