When the stock market goes wild (mostly down), pundits call it “volatility.”  Volatile might also apply to Clark Lake’s overnight weather early Sunday.  A dramatic thunderstorm crashed and boomed—enough to wake sound sleepers.  After a few scattered glitches, the power went out at 5:30 am and stayed out.  The good news?  It was back on for most by 7 am.

Sunday’s volatility was not how the weekend started.  Friday night at Clark Lake was gentle.  It was so gentle that Michael McCarthy invited neighbors to watch a movie outside.  In this photo, you can see the large screen playing the black and white film.  Glance to the right and you can see warm colors and soft outlines of cottages.   And the movie?  It took these Clark Lakers to another time and place.  The year was 1942. Filmed during World War II, it was also about the war.  It focused on an American expatriate (Humphrey Bogart) who must choose between his love for a woman (Ingrid Bergman) or helping her and her husband (Paul Henreid), a Czech resistance leader, escape from the Vichy-controlled city of Casablanca to continue his fight against the Germans.  That’s a lot to take in on an easy going Friday evening at the lake.  But this movie had become an all time favorite.

The movie Casablanca was rushed to the theaters in 1942 because of the Allied invasion of North Africa a few weeks earlier.  It was a solid performer then, but has gained ground ever since.  Who in 1942 could have possibly guessed Friday night’s scene 80 years in the future as a small group—Michael and Kris McCarthy, Sally McCarthy, Phil Schindler, Roger Lyons, Jill Bentley, David Nichols, and other friends—would share popcorn and watch it again on the shores of beautiful Clark Lake?