Fourth of July

He covers the face of the full moon, spreading his clouds over it. He marks out the horizon on the face of the waters for a boundary between light and darkness. Job 26: 9-10 (NIV)

No matter how the years pass, some traditions do not die and one of them is spending Fourth of July on my parents’ dock. After a big BBQ, we waddle down to the dock at dusk. Settling into our lounge chairs, we enjoy a show as the kids and neighbors shoot fireworks into the bay. We wait for the start of our community’s fireworks display several miles away from the crowds and traffic jams. This year, my nephew lit his stash that he bought with his own money. No illegal ones, only what he could get at the grocery store. We didn’t think to cross the line into Alabama when we were up for oldest son’s graduation in May. Probably a good thing because the sheriff sent out notices to all the local papers that they would be coming round for anything shot up into the air. Last year, we watched a firework lodge in a tree across the bay and set it on fire. The firefighters had quite a time getting it out, and it threatened several houses before it was done so I understand why they have the rule. Still, we shoot them over the water so what harm is there in it? Well, there was the year that one exploded before taking off and the dock almost caught on fire. While the fireworks were lovely this year, and we laughed and laughed at some the neighbors had that made a sound like a cross between someone passing gas and a cat screeching, what mostly caught our eye was not a man made light. Just past the edge of the dock, we saw mullet and snook racing under water. Occasionally, they broke the surface and when they did, they left a bright bluish green wake. My dad explained that it was a phosphorescent effect in the water or in scientific terms, the emission of light by bioluminescent plankton. He noted that just the right temperature of the water and sea life had to take place for it to be created. He got a fishing pole with a bobber on the end and twirled in through the water to show us how stirring the water caused the light to shine. He told us how when he was a boy and they used to go out at night to pull in crab traps, they did not need a light the water glowed so brightly. We all wanted a turn, and I spent quite some time slinging the bobber along the surface to create wake and water droplets of light. I could not take my eyes of the beauty there in the water before me. Not even to see the fireworks glowing above my head distracted me. It made me think that no matter what we as humans might invent, nothing surpassing the amazing creation that God intricately designed. Who needs a massive fireworks display when you can dip a pole in the water and see stars float across its surface?