Happy 4th!

Just when I thought the rest of my 4th would be tortuously spent deciding between watching the fifth hour of "The Revolution" on the History Channel, the four different Michael Jackson biographies or "Lockup" (I think I know more now than any one human should know about the petite nosed, king of pop- no more I say! my eyes)- Evan calls saying he wants to take me out on the boat to to go watch the firework show. Rescue! I had earlier decided to stay on the island for the fourth, seeing as I had no plans, and I figure Homestead and the greater Miami area would be crazy. Best if I stay safely, comfortably island bound. I am amazed there are a few campers willing to risk their flesh here this weekend. I thought well, we have a good view of about 3 firework shows from here, I will suit up in the bug suit, grab a glass of wine and go out to enjoy. But being out on the boat was all the better- we could see all the firework shows from Key Largo to Miami. Pretty awesome, I was glad to have some type of independence celebration! The only thing that would have made it better was to have playing my favorite 4th song: You're a grand ol flag! (any other favorites out there?)Mostly I spent my fourth curled up as a couch potato, Lola by my side (she actually slept all day, all day, belly up.) But by celebrating the 4th in this way is probably the true American way. Didn't the forefathers want us to gain our independence so we could have the right to be lazy, while getting chubby on our hot dogs and hamburgers, watching the boob tube about a fellow american who couldn't stop getting plastic surgery on his face? Yikes! I was in desperate need to be saved to enjoy some pyrotechnics and it was delivered! Evan worked a long 12 hour day for the 4th, so after the fireworks we decided to jump in the ocean to cool off. The water was great, the moon was almost full- only thing, wouldn't you figure, I jumped in right on a jellyfish and got stung on my arm. Even though it hurt quite a lot, and it was dark so I couldn't see if I was getting away from it or getting more entangled, once I got out, I have to admit, I felt a little tough. Yeah, I got a jellyfish sting, yeah no big deal, I survived, I mean barely, there was probably potential for amputation, but I toughed it out. I made Evan turn on the light on the boat so I could actually see my wound. I couldn't stop looking, two distinct tentacle marks. Well, the correct treatment for stings, according to Dr. Oz, salt water and vinegar. Vinegar actually neutralized the toxins. So, when I got home I smelled like red wine vinegar. I got away lucky. A woman earlier in the day had gotten attacked by a shark off of Elliot Key. Now nurse sharks don't usually bite people. Evan and I check them out all the time while snorkeling. This one, though, had been caught by a fisherman on a boat, thrown back in the water and then bit a swimmer near the boat. The swimmer turned out to have a bit of a flesh wound, but survived. All in all, an exciting fourth.