July 3rd Fireworks

Last night, Ward and I had planned to have a low-key evening at home. Instead we got the go-fever, as my mother used to say, and jumped in the car in search of the town's fireworks. Another way to have fun in our new community, we thought.

We saw a nice sunset while waiting on the fireworks.

As we approached town, we started seeing people lining the streets and parking lots much sooner than we expected. Not a good sign. However, we kept going. Ward was convinced that there would still be room at the fire department's fairgrounds were the fireworks were being set off. Well, he was wrong. The parking was lot full, the surrounding parking lots were full, the roadsides were full, and we were stuck in traffic. Now our main goal was to find our way home or our way back to the less crowded areas we had seen earlier.  However, there wasn't much choice in which way we could go when we were able to move. At one point, we decided that it wouldn't be so bad to watch the show from our car if we were stuck in traffic when the fireworks began.

We inched our way along and eventually were out of the mass of traffic. However we were seeing fewer and fewer people along the way and we took that as a bad sign. At this point, we were just hoping that one of these streets would lead us out to some kind of a main road where we could eventually find our way home. No such luck.

We decided to turn around in a gravel parking lot and lo and behold, what did we see? A couple of groups of people in lawn chairs waiting for the fireworks. After a bit of questioning to determine that was indeed what they were there for, we decided to join them. We spent a very pleasant hour talking with them, watching their kids turn cartwheels, and listening to 70's music while waiting for the show to begin.  They said that they had found this place last year and came back because it worked so well.

Right on schedule, the show began at 9:30 pm, and we had a great view. For the next 20 minutes we watched the sky light up with bright, beautiful colors. Next year, we plan to go to the same spot. Selfishly, we hope no one else finds it.

And how was the traffic on our trip home, you may ask? Can you say traffic jam? We caught up to the traffic jam soon enough, but everyone was polite, and we found some good music on the radio. Not such a bad ending to a very satisfying evening.

Happy Fourth of July!  

Here's a little of what we saw last night.

Thankful Sunday--July 12, 2015

Our library group lining up for the parade with the stacks of books and signs we carried.

I am thankful for the community I live in.

I live in a small community that was originally a rural farming town. While there are still farms around, it now might be better described as a suburban bedroom community for Washington, D. C. However, it still has its small town feel from years ago. That was evidenced this past weekend by Celebrate Mayfield* Days. This is an annual event that brings the area together for a little old fashioned fun. Friday night was a parade with fireworks afterwards and Saturday had the streets lined with vendors and activities for everyone.

Friday night I marched in the parade with my coworkers representing the Mayfield library. We were joined by 80 other groups from churches, youth organizations, and local businesses. And as always, Santa was the last one in the parade for a little Christmas in July. Whoever didn't happen to be in the parade was set up along the route with their picnic suppers watching. Although it was hotter than I would have liked, I had a lot of fun walking along and hearing the crowd cheer for the library as well as waving to my friends along the route.

Fireworks from Mayfield Days

After the parade Ward joined me at the fair grounds for the fire department chicken dinner which is one of their big fund raisers every year. As we were finishing our dinner, it was getting dark and it was time to find our spot to watch the fireworks. While there were plenty of people around, we had no problem finding a place for our blanket. The fire department put on a good show.  I could get a little mushy here and say that Ward and I felt like we were dating again. He has been working a lot of overtime recently and we haven't had much time to see each other. However, Friday was just about perfect as we snuggled together watching the lights in the sky.    Yes, that was a little too mushy. :)

Saturday had flea markets, a banana split eating contest, and a fun run among many other activities. I think you're getting the idea. I live in a place where simple things are still enjoyed. And for that I am thankful.  

*The name has been changed to be consistent with the Leave It to Beaver aliases.