In deference to that opinion, I hereby give you the following snapshots from the long weekend. (No. They're not actual snapshots. They're written things. I have no digital camera, remember?)
1) It was really green back home -- That may sound strange to some people (like, for instance, Christopher, who got very tired of me pointing out the windows and saying "Wow. It's SO green!" and "There's not supposed to be water standing there." and various other brilliant comments on the drive home), but SouthEast South Dakota is, usually, beginning the seasonal slide to golden/brown this time of year. As you might have guessed, though, it was lush and green and gorgeous. We didn't even have to worry about starting the yard on fire when we were setting of fireworks on Saturday night.
2) Leaving home, for me, isn't as easy as it used to be -- Don't get me wrong. I was exhausted after the weekend. Christopher had been trying to get me to slow down for about half of Saturday and all of Sunday morning, while I was moving from one meal to the next, setting up and clearing away and figuring what needed to be done. But I feel like I've done that forever in my parents' house, and so it's nothing new. Even so, when I go home these days, it's usually just me and my parents -- sometimes with Christopher along for the ride. This time, with 15 people at dinner on Friday and lunch on Saturday, then 40+ people for "snacks" on Saturday afternoon and 30-ish people for brunch on Sunday, well... it kept me on my toes. And, yes, I fully admit that the quiet of the car-ride back to Minneapolis was a nice change of pace. (I've gotten very used to living a fairly quiet life -- or at least a semi-quiet one.) And I think I was ready to head out. But it was still hard to say good-bye to everyone on Sunday. I guess that's one of those "wistful" situations, where the happy and the sad all join together and make you notice the passage of time.
3) Fireworks are really cool. A tad scary. But mostly really cool -- You see, in South Dakota, all sorts of things that go boom and whizz and shreee-pow are legal and useable. And in my home town, you can shoot them off right outside your door from June 27th until July 5th. Which is what we did after the big reunion dinner on Saturday night. My two brothers-in-law had purchased various stashes of sparking, flashing, exploding and/or spinning gadgetry which took about 45 minutes to get through. We set up in the street about a quarter block from home (too many trees in our yard), with spectators (mostly family) in lawn chairs or on the sidewalk, and various cousins (first-cousins-once-removed, mainly) helped to light them off. There were things that went way up in the air, things that stayed on the ground, and things that were full of (good) surprises. All of which were accompanied by the requisite Oooohs and Aaahhhs. A lot may have changed over the years, but shooting off Fourth of July Fireworks (even a week early) took me right back to my Grandma's backyard when I was a kid. Only this time I didn't blow up any crab apples, and the "whizz-bangs" didn't burn a hole in anyone's blanket.
And, well, that's pretty much what the weekend was like. At least in my three snapshots. :-)
** Oh. In case I haven't mentioned it, lately, I'm from here. **
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