Whipple Dam on the 4th of July

It was the July 4th holiday in the U.S., and I had the day off. The weather was cool and beautiful, the sky blue and full of interesting clouds. In fact, it was cool enough that we decided to go hiking in the woods. This is the lake at Whipple Dam. We hiked the several-mile trail around the lake in the morning and swam at the swimming area in the afternoon. I even chased down a photo or two of the lake's ubiquitous dragonflies.

It was a day of simple pleasures: breakfast out at Eat 'n Park first thing, then a trip to Whipple Dam with lots of exercise, followed by a social visit to friends. We didn't go into town to see any fireworks; we don't usually choose to hang out with the crowds on holidays in general. There were plenty of picnickers at Whipple Dam, but it was very low-key. The weather was as cool as I can remember it on any July 4th, so it was surprisingly refreshing and delightful to be out!

By afternoon, the clouds were really fantastic, like something painted on the sky by the hand of Michelangelo; painted by somebody who really, really loved clouds. Sometimes we think about the glory days as those times that have already passed, but what if these, indeed, are the glory days?

I've wanted to use a song from this album to commemorate its thirty-year anniversary in June, but I'm just getting to it now. Happy thirtieth to the Bruce Springsteen classic album, Born In the U.S.A. The song I've chosen from it as the soundtrack for this blue-sky image is Bruce Springsteen, with Glory Days.