Pages

Sunday, June 20, 2010

This one time, at a festival

In Northern Civilization, the parks department is busy. Well, of course it is since it's a city of more than a quarter of a million people, the parks' departments hold one festival after another all summer long. And for some reason I just haven't gotten my act together to get to any of them. There's always three I LOVE to go to: a German Festival (all things German, including polka bands, food and a BEER tent), a Greek Festival (including all things Greek like food, entertainment, Greek men in droves, and a BEER tent selling Greek booze) and a Rib festival that sells about a 100 different sorts of ribs and side dishes, as well as having entertainment and a BEER tent. Hmmmm, one commonality here....

When I lived in Northern Civ I went to all these festivals, never missing a one. Sometimes I went with GFs, Sams, family, students, or alone. It was just part of my summer time ritual. One night during Greek Festival week, I went with a bunch of teachers. Then the next night I went with 'the girls' and another time I went with my landlord; we rode down on his motorcycle and he and I went and just sat and listened to music and drank beer and then biked back. It was a super nice evening and that was an awesome night. All the nights and times were awesome. I had a large group of acquaintances and some friends. There was always someone around and up to doing something like this. I loved that time in my life.

Today is the last day for the Ribs, and I missed the Germans. And if I don't write it down, I'll miss the Greeks next weekend. As I was looking through the schedule of events, I found myself thinking of 2006, specifically, when I went to the German Festival.

My group had shifted and changed, as is want to happen with nomadic climbers in their late 20s and early 30s. This time, I had a guy friend, Sam, who was a friend with benefits... and that year, at German Festival, he went with me. At the time I had a friend Lisa and we met her and her boyfriend of the day, and some other people she knew well and that I knew peripherally. Then there were some folks that she and I both used to work with who were there. We were a group of about 15 and it was hot out that weekend. We all drank beer like it was water, and we danced. and laughed. Oh my goodness, did we laugh. And drink. And we tried to learn to polka when the "German" songs were playing. Some old guys in lederhosen came to the table and grabbed all us 'girls' (we were in our 30s and 40s; they were in theirs 70s. We were girls) and they tried to teach us the steps. One of the fellas in our group kept buying rounds of beer. Someone got hold of a St. Paulie Girl's wig, and he was wearing it around- we all did. Some older ladies (partners of the older men in l'hosen) got in the act and got the guys from our group to dance. People were circling around us and clapping and laughing while we tried to polka. Then a bunch of us got on stage and accompanied the band to "Danke Schoen" which turned into a Ferris Bueller style dance off. It was a great night.

Sam and I left and were driving back to the frat house where I was living that summer (Yes, I was living in a frat house- now there's a story for another day!). It was in a summer lake town and after all the dancing and laughing, we got back to town, parked and went for a walk on the beach and watched the stars. We lay there in the sand, watching the stars, holding hands, and our breathing even synced.

It was a good night. That was a good time. He was perfect, so was I, so were my friends, the weather, the timing... it was all just good. Makes me miss him just a little bit, for that moment that summer. Ah, happy memories.

remembering that once upon a time I was lovable,
Maggie

10 comments:

Unknown said...

Thanks for stopping by. Love the name of your blog. I just scroll back to look at your blog and I think i just found there the most beautiful shoes I have ever seen. I'm talking about the pink satin ones with ruffles. I love shoes and purses too but my feet can't take the abuse any more. Wearing any kind of heels this days is a killer so I have to limit myself to the prettiest sandals for the summer and all sorts of ballerina slippers for the cold weather. I hate tennis shoes but they are part of my survival kit. Lucky you, oh one more thing, the outfit, the whole thing, fabulous, I can see the divalicious in you. Blessings, Marta.

Curley said...

What do you mean, "once upon a time..."? You are very much still lovable.

Maggie said...

Marta- thanks for the compliments dear! I love ballerina shoes, too, but more for winter and fall when it's too cold for toes exposure!

And I love my pink ruffly shoes, too! Those were a fun find, for sure!

Anonymous said...

Nice story Maggie!!! Ahhhh nostalgia....


Thanks for stopping by! I appreciate you!

love, kelee

Tracy F. said...

Sounds like a fun time! I would love to hear the frat house story!

Shirl said...

Hello, I'm still making my Pink Saturday visits, thank you so much for stopping by and leaving a sweet comment. Your post is lovely this week!
Blessings, Shirl
Shirls Rose Cottage

Anonymous said...

And you sure are on e lady with lots of adventures with you! I don't think I have experience even 1/4 of the fun you have with mmy age LOL

But I sure do enjoy reading it. Sound like you are so fun fun to hang with. :-)

Thanks for thinking of my sister. Both her and my Ma are doing well.

Belated happy PInk Saturday! You sure were ready for the event on your previous post - dressed from head to toe! Love the dress and the pattern of the fabric (makes me wish I know how to sew) :-)

Mizpah,
Li

Kimberly said...

So cool to share your stories. I felt like I was almost there in the salt air.

Mary Bergfeld said...

You still are!!!! The story was charming and was so well-told you had me in the beer hall with you. Memory is a wonderful thing and it should be treasured. I hope you are having a great day. Blessings...Mary

Maggie said...

Kelee- thanks so much for commenting and reading- and I like visiting your blog; I'll be back!

Tracy F- oh, the frat house story is coming up this week!

Shirl- thanks. I was late as well, and did most of my visits yesterday!

Li- thanks for reading and commenting- please visit again soon. I enjoy life, most of the time, anyway! haha! And thanks for the compliments about my dress!

Kimberly- thank you so MUCH! That is sweet of you to compliment my writing- wow- thanks!

Mary- thank you so much. I'm glad you enjoyed my stroll down memory lane; it was fun to recall, that's for sure. And wish you could've been in the beer tent because it was a GRAND night for sure! And thank you for your nice words about my writing. I'm flattered. Thank you.