What a fabulous 4th this was. Really, I can’t think of a nicer one in ages. We spend it at the homestead with Brian’s family and I had a great time. Even with my brother-in-law’s wife, which was just icing on the cake. I’m serious. It felt like the old days and I can’t tell you how happy that makes me. Friday doesn’t erase everything- hell no, I still wish those two would go their separate ways, but it was the first time in a long time that I was able to feel comfortable around her.
Anyway.
The homestead is in Whitefield, a very small town (more like village) out in the sticks. There isn’t a downtown to speak of, just a wide fork in the road with a church and some old buildings. It was first settled in the 1760s-1770s and incorporated in 1809. Every year there is a parade and I am a sucker for parades. The parade route is about a mile from the homestead, an easy enough walk when the weather is just right and on Friday it was. In the mid-to-upper 70s with a slight breeze and NO humidity. This born-and-bred Washingtonian (state, not DC) was pleased. Humidity does not agree with me. The parade was excellent this year, probably the best one I’ve seen there yet. It’s such a small-town deal, no fancy floats or marching bands, but plenty of loud fire trucks and lots of candy tossed from old cars. I’m not sure what I enjoyed more: the parade itself or the people-watching. Afterwards, we walked up to the grange hall to check out the cakes for the cake walk and the assortment of goods for sale at the swap meet. Across the street was a silent art auction and plenty of fried foods available for purchase. I refrained from the hot dogs, but I wish I did the bean bag toss. Everyone I passed seemed happy and content and that’s just the way it should be on the 4th. Whitefield might be small, but its people sure know how to throw a good party.
Later on there were hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken wings, my greek bulger salad, Ellie’s macaroni salad, watermelon, Donna’s divine strawberry-cream cheese-jello concoction, enough chips and dip to keep me happy and all the beer and soda one could ask for. We topped it all off with birthday cake (it was my brother-in-law’s 38th birthday) and cherry pie. Bliss. I ate enough to feel fat and happy, yet not so much that I ended up on the toilet at 2 am with stomach cramps and a sore ass.
OH. Speaking of the crapper, I played Bob Villa today and replaced two toilet seats, two toilet bowl flappers and one toilet lever today. All without having to turn the water off or breaking anything. I can’t get over how much better the new seats look. We had wood seats before and those scream 1980s to me. We’ve been meaning to replace them for, oh…three years now. Yesterday the flapper in the upstairs bathroom basically dissolved (eww) and I had to make a trip to Lowe’s today to get a new one. We decided to replace the seats and make the other needed repairs and I tell you, it feels damn good to get something as minor as that fixed by moi. Baby steps, yes?
Right now I’m happy. This has been a great weekend. Maybe not as productive in some ways as it needed to be, but Brian and I have had a great time together. It feels good to shake off some of the shit that we’re dealing with and enjoy ourselves. Yesterday we went to the gym and I work muscles that haven’t been worked in a long time. That feels good. That soreness in my shoulders and arms feels good. We both got great workouts on the elliptical and I spent some time on the weight machines. We’re going again at 5 am tomorrow. Yes, we really are. So right now, I am happy. All of the shit is still there, but it’s just on the edges and not taking over. Honestly, I don’t know how we’re going to pull everything off, I really don’t, but I know that we will. And at the end of it all, we have US and there is nothing better than that.
