Small Town Stuff

This is it, the one day of the year when the streets in town and the parks are packed, and the day is jammed full with events:  a parade, car show, quilt show, flea market, friends-of-the-library book sale, "gold panning", rodeo, church fundraising dinners, and more.

The local fiber guild's float was filled, during the parade, with knitters, spinners, weavers, and even critters:

 

The local volunteer fire department, abiding by the child seat belt laws, of course:

It's loosely based on the idea of the traditional rendezvous (and goes by that name) when the mountain men came in from the hills to trade their furs and other wares at the end of the winter season.  S0 there is also black powder shooting and mountain man competitions, costume contests, dutch oven cooking demonstrations, a gold rush for the kids, and you're bound to see a fair amount of buckskins and wall tents, and uh, bagpipers(?), the best part in my opinion, but it's a crying shame, all those non-handknit kilt hose.

Each year this gets bigger.  When we first moved here the parade was only about 15 minutes or so and now it's a full hour.  What used to essentially be a beer garden in the park is now filled with local vendors, live music, and is an alcohol-free and thus more family friendly event.   Apparently, before we lived here, the parade used to be so short they'd run it down the main street and then back again to make it last longer, and it used to take place in February (brrr!).  Still, you can't know for sure whether the sun will shine or whether there will be snow on the ground, even in the end of April.  This year, thankfully, it was sunshine again.

OK, so maybe big blow-up beer bottles being thrown to children at the parade isn't exactly family-friendly.  E was sooooo proud of his "prize", barely letting it out of his hands until bedtime.  There were, of course, also, the usual balloons and OBSCENE amounts of candy. (Fortunately, E's bag od candy was ruined by a bottle of spilled water, leaving them to share R's bag between the two of them.)   

What child hasn't done this, either after Halloween, a piñata, or a parade?  Is this not innate, human behavior?  You might just call this sorting, counting, trading, and discussing of most and least favorites.   As a homeschooling parent, I like to call it "Math."  : )      

Comments

[Ellen]

How fantastic. We used to live in a smaller town and it really has its advantages. I love the sorting and trading of the candy - is little brother getting the short end of the stick?

[Heather]

I'm a regular reader (I lurk) and just love your posts! The photo of your town looks much like the setting of "Northern Exposure"!

[Jen]

Math! I agree. I was just recalling to a friend that I miss the days of trick or treating. But as a school teacher, Halloween is still alive for me. I get all the student's cast offs. They know I love candy and so they tend to share. : )