4th Dimension

I traveled to my hometown for the 4th of July, and that's like traveling to a different world, not just a different state or country, so I figured it merited a post.

The 4th of July festivities back home have always intrigued me. They consist of the following: Starting at 7:30 in the morning there is a 5k run. Then the parade - one of the longest in creation - followed by activities on the park. These activities include, but are not limited to local entertainment (Hooray for my little sister singing, and the local fiddle group), a fishing booth, navajo tacos, the pentawhirl, deep fried twinkies, and the diaper derby. Everything wraps up about 1:30 with the culminating event of the day - the 4ht of July Fish Grab. Then everything is kind of dead until the fireworks at night.

Here was my involvement in those activities -

I ran the 5k. Now, those of you that know me well are probably thinking "What?!?! What on earth possessed you to get up at the crack of dawn to do something athletic?" I know, I know. Well it's one of life's little twists. I've been running lately, and my Dad invited me along, so I went. It was actually kind of fun. I came in 111th out of 133, which should set things back into normalcy for those of you who thought hell had frozen over. I did beat my Dad. And I came in right behind John Beck - the BYU quarterback. If I'd have known it was him before the race started, I would have tried harder. I also beat the mom with the stroller, so I was feeling pretty good.

We watched the parade - all 2 hours of it. Pointless, but it's a tradition. The following was my favorite entry from the parade:

I think I'll make a game out of it. Whoever can tell me what's wrong with this picture first - I realize there are many things wrong with this picture, but the main thing - gets a cookie. Those who were there don't get to play - sorry.

After the parade we spent a wonderful morning/afternoon on the city park. I had a fried twinky - which was delightful BTW. I saw some old friends. I even had the pleasure of observing the crazy kid from my high school class still being crazy. And I don't mean cool crazy, I mean creepy crazy. Some things never change.

And the culminating event of the day was, of course, the Fish Grab. Now you can't really tell from the video, but the little pools are filled with trout. I'm sure PETA would have a hey-day with this one:



Then it was time for a float down the canal. I didn't contract giardia, and there were only a few dead animals joining us, so it was a good day. It was very cold though, despite the infernal temperatures of the air. I think my body temperature was lowered a degree or two. I took a hot shower and wrapped up in a blanket for about a half an hour before I felt warm again. Good times in the canal.

The rest of the day was filled with movies, ice cream, impromptu meals, a nap and watching the fairly mediocre fireworks show from the roof of my parent's house. It really was a great day.

I love quirky small-town holidays. In my home town, everyone comes back for the 4th of July. My ten-year reunion will actually take place over the 4th in a number of years. I probably won't be married, so just to cause scandal and feed the rumor mill I'm thinking of either borrowing a baby from a friend and pretending to be a single father, or bringing a male friend and being conspicuously ambiguous about the nature of our relationship.