Please ’scuse the absense. The Tailor and I have been in and out of town lately (mostly in the woods, far away from computers and civilization), and I’m still going through the mountain of photographs. Travel details this week, pinky swear. In the meantime, today felt like a whole vacation all by itself—just plain old good for the soul.

This is Carol, a fiery Sicilian kindred spirit and one of my favorite-est people on the planet. She and her fabulous husband, Jeff, hosted a Fourth of July shindig in their garden today, threats of rain be darned.

There was a little music,

a healthy dose of croquet,

(heaven help you if you hit the ball into the fig/rhododendron tangle, or launch it over the wall and down to 30th Street far below)

a whole lot of laughter,

and a walloping smörgåsbord that included plenty beyond your typical Fourth o’ July fare. Hey, hummus goes great with stars-and-stripes cake!

We contributed our ice cream crank, plenty of mashed strawberries, and our upper body strength.

I’m glad there were plenty of people to share the job of cranking, because I like to cut to the chase.

Namely, this. My favorite part is when everybody grabs a spoon and helps clean off the dash,

though I’m sure the novelty alone was the highlight for some. Sure, it was a little cold for ice cream (we’re not exactly known for hot summers here, but this year we’ve been sporting March temperatures for months), but everyone just threw on another clothing layer before digging in.

After we had all eaten ourselves silly, everyone gathered on Carol and Jeff’s porch, which faces the Sound and provides a front-row seat—

first for the warm-up act,

and then for the main event.

And judging by the snap-crackle-popping still echoing through the neighborhood, I’d say the party ain’t over yet.

Happy Independence Day!