Is that aligator claw giving me the finger?

When you start your evening with a desperate dive up the beach to escape a renegade firework, you know it’s going to be a good weekend.

There’s an overwhelming sense of freedom and a simple “everything will turn out great” feeling as you drive up to the lake house at the dead-end of Culver Road in upstate New York. Today Lake Ontario is an angry churning of brown and green waves behind the stretch of our sandy backyard beach; and the front of the house faces the calm bay with blue waters that face the large bridge off into the distance. A varied array of boats parade in and out of the canal next to the little shack on the lake, and with them a diverse set of summer-goers ready to steal every moment of the nice weather we’ve been patiently waiting for.

the backyard by the water

The Backyard

The frontyard bay

Friday night we drove up to the smaller Conesus lake to become a link in the ring of fire. As night fell the lakeside dwellers lit their flares one by one to create a ring of red flame (10,000 flares by 10pm). Everyone had fireworks, some professional bombshells and some simplebottlerockets. By 9:30pm the sky was lit with falling stars and sparkling diamonds. The show was better than downtown Chicago on the 4th! Our independence day on Saturday was spent gathered around a huge bonfire at the beach house. Lake Ontario roared in the background, pushed by the high winds. As I sipped on homemade wine and look around the fire at the faces of my family. I realized we had 4 generations and several branches of my family with us there. My great uncle arty sitting behind me talking about strange bodily functions reminded me how quarky family can be — well, that and the fact that my second cousin, Jimmy Bones, took me aside to bestow upon me one of his favorite treasures…….. a preserved alligator claw giving the finger. Ahhh, love and memories.

At Consesus Lake for "ring of fire"

My family at the Beach Summer 2009

After all of my Dad’s homemade wine had been passed around for tastings (Grandma’s Montepuciano and SeaBreeze Sangiovese) Jimmy Bones and I stopped in at Marge’s Lakeside Inn a few beaches down to check out the live music and see the crowd. On the way back, the neighbor’s catapulted the trees beside us with professional fireworks (unintentionally of course — if not aided by celebratory libations) and we found ourselves diving up the beach away from the explosions.

Never a dull moment at Casa de Mazza Seabreeze.

Today itself has been fairly tame. I ended up taking a nap at the far end of the beach with my cousin Ben, who apparently is now the youngest Sergent in the United States Army (congrats!). As my nap ended, and the waves lapped at my toes, I looked around at the eight lounge chairs, full cooler and small wooden table that we would need to lug back up the beach to the bonfire pit. Just as I was dreading the long hike that would not be aided by my sun-drunken fuzzy-head and my severely burned thighs, the neighbor rolls up in his bulldozer. Go figure. It’s good to have friends with heavy-machinery on hand at the beach.

We loaded the huge shovel up with the cooler and chairs, and plopped down on the sheet of heavy canvas dragging behind the treads for smoothing the sand. A ride up the beach was a perfect transition to the bonfire we’re having tonight.

It’s been the most fun I’ve had here since we bought this Lake House. Incredible food (homemade gnochi’s, tripe, and other sicilian/calabrese delectables), an extended (yet close at heart) family gathering, beach, bonfire and the beautiful lake Ontario. I can’t imagine anywhere else I want to be right now other than here. This is the best weekend I’ve had in a long time. It’s been a challenging last few months, and thanks to the lake and my family, I’m ready for the new and upcoming opportunities to grow, change and move forward.

More pictures Here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rachelmazza/sets/72157620883162911/

Mom's Side of the Family