Burning on the Beach - A Canada Day tradition?

I decided to look through some older photos today, and I chose this one from a weekend spent at a friend's parents' place in Sarnia.  It was the summer of 2006, and the place we stayed at was very cool as their property had it's own little private beach area.  I didn't realize until just now, when I checked the date of this photo, but it was actually taken on July 1st!  So without even knowing, it turns out I chose the perfect photo for today.  

I was up quite late last night, and most of my day was spent trying to forget about the all of the wine I drank...so that's why I'm posting today's photo just an hour before the day is over.  Oooops!  But it's the long weekend, so I'm sure I'm not the only one who's been in that state today.

So back to that weekend 6 years ago, where we decided it was not only a good idea to have a fire, but we should create an effigy (infused with all of our troubles) and burn it away.  I'm sure there was drinking involved in making this decision, and it was certainly fun!  I was experimenting with my camera settings, using slow exposures to try and create ghost-like images.  Sometimes I get entirely too involved with my camera and taking the right pictures that I forget to actually enjoy the moment as it is happening.  True, the image captures the spontaneous yet dream-like mood that we were all in at the time.  But I'm glad I can still remember the smell of the beach, the water, and the stillness of that night.  We were literally the only people around, and having the private beach section was amazing.  It was a very fun weekend with great people who are still close friends, so seeing this photo truly does make me smile.  Plus, I really love how it turned out!