You know what people say?

I'll tell you.

They say, "Hey, do you know Mel?"

They say, "Oh the patriotic Mel? The one that sings the Star Spangled Banner in perfect pitch and glows red, white and blue while she sleep? (The glow comes from the lovely casino lights down the street and not so much an internal patriotism monitor, but no one is fact checking this sucker.)

Then they say, "Yeah. That Mel."

Oh, you people. You're making me blush.

I do love this country. Sure it has it's faults. But c'mon, what doesn't? Mothers, ice cream, education, one year old babies named Phinny. All things that are near and dear to my heart, none of which are flawless

So we celebrated.

If you live in Reno, you probably hit up water on the 4th. 100+ degrees drives you to it. Tahoe is our choice. 30 minutes for crystal blue water. After a week of Phin not letting go of my leg, floating on my back in that perfect lake for 5 uninterrupted minutes was medicine for the soul. Plus watching him lay face down in the sand was awesome. Guess you know pretty early on if you're not a towel man.