I love small towns for SO many reasons but this past week I loved my small town for its annual festival. Although not the same small town I grew up in, I relocated to an equally small town. Well, with the exception of 2000 or so college kids but that small town feeling is just the same. People come out of the woodwork for the annual Bar-B-Que Festival. The smell of BBQ wafts through the air in a 10 mile radius it seems.
Set up for the festival begins on Wednesday.
The mobile concession stands roll in.
The bleachers are assembled on the front lawn of the court house along with numerous bounce houses that will house many a giggle just a few hours from now.
Roads are blocked off and detours marked while Main Street is becoming populated with vendor tents.
The pick up trucks are parked beside the courthouse and the cookers are moved in and the men in town arrive as early (or earlier) as 6 am to begin cooking and pulling pork.
The smoke from the cookers rises and your taste buds begin anticipating the deliciousness that is undoubtedly about to follow.
Soon the BBQ stand will be covered up with crowds of people. People who are willing to wait in line for over an hour to get a taste of what's been cooking. But, lets face it. In a small town an hour doesn't seem like long at all because you are standing in line with your best friend's mom or a dear friend from church or an old high school buddy that made it back home for the festival.
And the crowds roll in.
And we join.
And we dine. We spread our quilt on the lawn across from the courthouse as we do every year. And these are good times.
We visit my favorite of all time favorite booths and I indulge on my once-a-year treat: the legendary fried oreo. And I delight in watching others enjoy their first bite, whether two years old or 76 years old.
And we buy over-priced light-up light sabers because they bring boundless joy to a certain group of boys. And we sit beneath that tree and take it all in. After all, this only comes once a year.
We stay out there until dark and watch as the tents light up. And life is good.
Yes, I'm thankful for this small town. I'm thankful that my boys will grow up with memories of weekends like this and hope that it will still bring them as much joy when they are grown. I may be obsessed with the awesome-ness of places like New York City and may even secretly (or not-so-secretly now!) want to live there for a month but I will always be a small town girl at heart and I know without a doubt I am RIGHT where I belong!
5 comments:
Great post!! And fantastic pictures. =) I so enjoyed reading this.
lOk, So what editing software do you use? I love what you have done with the pics. And I need to know exactly what that thing is that you have on your lens. Your pics are wonderful! And I may need you to email that pic of my dad. I think I may make him a book of all his years working in the pit.
Thanks for the compliments Kristen and Brittany. I enjoyed taking the pics and, well, I just enjoyed everything about the festival this year! :)
Brittany, I use Photoshop to edit my pics. I'm not crazy about it because I just can't figure it all out. It is hard to understand. I wish I could take a class on it or something. I've heard that Lightroom is REALLY good and easier to use but I've never tried it. I think I'd like to at some point. I'll definitely email you the pic of your dad. I thought it was so cute! :) I'm also hoping to get the pics on Facebook at some point but you know how it is...busy, busy, busy! Ha. :)
LOVED this!!! You are way to good at this blogging stuff and now that I have internet at the house I can't wait to see more!! I agree with Brit and LOVE your pics - I want to do that!
You are just amazing and I don't tell you that enough!
I will have to get photoshop! I didn't know it did all that! Maybe you can teach me how to use it:)
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