Friday night football is one of my favorite all time things. That is, high school football. I knew my husband when we were in high school. The number 89 still gives me a thrill because it was his - and in football, you gotta know the guy's number or you'll never know what's happening out there. A friend of mine wrote a poem about it once - (friday night football, not the number 89) - but I don't have his permission to use it, so I won't.
I also love small towns and their yearly festivals. I'm not in the mood to tell you all about how much I love them because unless you can relate, you'll just want to make fun. It's tempting I know, but there's just something about them . . .
More than anything this weekend, I loved my kids reminding me every moment how easy it is to enjoy life. The Corn Festival in my hometown takes up about one courthouse lawn - all sides, and then spills some into the adjacent school lawn and the streets on either side. Yet, after we had been there about five minutes yesterday, my oldest son said, "Man, we need a map." And during the tractor portion of the parade - that's where people drive by on tractors in case the phrasing threw you - my middle son was able to pause long enough from candy retreival to put a finger toward my face and say, "You little jokester! You said this parade was short!" Suddenly I remembered that to him, it may as well have been Thanksgiving Day by Macy's and to John, we may as well have found ourselves plunked down in Tomorrow Land looking for the Haunted Mansion (which is in the Fantasy Land portion of Disney World, you know, or maybe Adventure Land - I can't remember for sure because for that place you actually do need a map.)
Remember the days when it felt like vacation just to go to the movies for a night? Or even more miraculous to stay in a hotel - with a pool! Well I can remember it, because frankly, it's still true for me. It takes so little. Especially because just when I'm about to get all grown up and big city (I live in a town of 17,000, that big city comment is sarcasm) and mock the fact that at Dotty's Ozark Funnel Cakes stand I overheard someone suggest that the Cow Chip Bingo might be rigged, it's at that point that I think instead of how happy I've made my children for the day, and how fun it has been to see old friends, and how much Drew made me laugh when he told me to order him "A Root Beer if they have it, and if they don't have that then Sprite, and if they don't have that, then just keep going down from Root Beer."
If you don't know what cow chip Bingo is, this picture won't exactly explain it, but I will tell you that I can't imagine how you would begin to rig this game, and if someone did find a way to rig it and went to all the trouble of doing whatever it is you might have to do to rig it, well, frankly I'm just really grossed out and apalled.
There are plenty of times in life when you gotta settle for less, but this weekend for me was all Root Beer.
2 comments:
OK, I spit Pepsi out my nose when I got to the Cow Chip Bingo comment. Evan had such a blast at Corn Fest with the Golden's! At dinner Friday night your mom was mourning the fact that this was only the 2nd Corn Fest in a bazillion years that she had missed. Ah, the joys & entertainment of small town livin'!
not fair, you made me cry without even tring. I was just complaing the other day about not being able to go to the corn festival, or the red barn arts fair or the homecoming prade ect..although I love Pensacola there is always apart of me that is missing this time of year. Tim Fox came out side yesterday in the 98 degree weather and yelled across the yard,"hey bekki isn't this corn festival weather!" If he only knew small town life he would miss it too!
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