Lake Isabella is a small community of only about 1,200 people, but this year, it put on one heck of a good fireworks show.
The setting is very nice. The fireworks are launched over the lake, and usually, hundreds of boaters sail to the north end of the lake to watch the show from the water. This year, a strong south wind turned the lake pretty choppy, and a number of pontoon-boat owners decided to watch this one from the dock. There still were more than 100 boats anchored out on the lake, full of people watching the show.
Tim Wolff, the village manager, worried that with Mount Pleasant cancelling its show, that Lake Isabella might be overwhelmed with people looking for an excellent show. That didn't seem to be the case. The crowd control was very good, with the township marshall, the sheriff's department, the state police, Tribal police and Lake Isabella security all contributing manpower.
The show itself was truly excellent. The sky was cloudy, the air heavy and moist, and the village -- with funding from private donors -- put on a fabulous, 30-minute show.
Many of the most spectacular displays were low, designed to reflect in the lake. That worked to perfection.
And the grand finale was one of the grandest I've seen. It was intense, fast-paced and just an absolute pleasure to watch.
Andrew and I watched it from the east side of the lake, just off the golf course. We couldn't get access to the dam this year -- apparently, there's a serious liability issue, but where we watched was directly across from the launch site. Perfect!
And the breeze kept the bugs down.
Just a thought: Does it say anything about Americans that we celebrate our national holiday by blowing things up?
The old magazines I am talking about are mainly British Vogues from the past two years, Teen Vogues since it started and a few random issues of magazines I deem as ‘special’: the last ever issue of The Face, a few Japanese Seventeen (not that I know how to read Japanese), two thick September issues of US Vogue, the first ever issue of Chinese Vogue, and the Gemma-edited issue of Australian Vogue of course.
I’m usually not very sentimental about old things that I don’t use anymore. If something is totally useless and doesn’t represent a huge phase of my life, I would throw it out without thinking much. I am planning to keep the special issues of magazines and Teen Vogues, but I am still debating about the old British Vogues. I mean, it’s unlikely I’m going to be rereading those any time soon. But I’m really hesitant to get rid of them because the editorials (and some ads) are just SO pretty. Remember the July 2005 ones with 
