9/16/11

Freckle Friday-Homecoming Edition

Today reminds me of one of my favorite pages from my favorite little book:

Cultural Traditions

I share spoken memories with my child. 

"Today I will share something of my cultural tradition with my children.  Each of us comes from somewhere and that somewhere we come from is part of what forms our culture.  Even if my background is not lustrous in any way, it is part of who I am, and who I am is all that I have to give my child.  My child loves hearing stories about me when I was young; it is meaningful to him in ways I can't even imagine and it creates an intimate sharing between us.  I still remember stories that my parents shared with me about their childhoods.  They created mental pictures.  
These are all a part of the cultural tradition I share with my child."

Lenny Bruce once said, “I hate small towns because once you've seen the cannon in the park there's nothing else to do.”

Well Mr. Bruce has never been to a small town at homecoming time then. Last night, no one was hanging out at the park looking at our tank! Everyone was on downtown watching kids of all ages celebrate their school spirit and MP pride at the annual Homecoming Parade. 



 Beads and face tattoos are all part of the homecoming tradition, but so are pink coats over Pointer blue garb when the weather is just too chilly for t-shirts.


 

Families gathered together to celebrate the evening before the big game.
Thanks to Sara Heisner for snapping this photo of us...future photographer I think!


Mud Dog football players marching down the parade route looking tough and ready to play a little smash mouth.  Although Owen would love to blame the blood running down his leg on an awesome tackle, we are pretty sure the tradition of scab picking is responsible for that....boys are gross!




Another part of our family culture is sometimes having to wait while Dad goes to work.  Sometimes people need help, and he is the guy to know. Although, we missed most of the pep rally, the kids got a treat from Atomic Ice. Another example of wonderful small town living is that the girl was closing up the ice cream shop as we walked past, but was sweet enough to let us in for a minute to scoop up two Cookie Dough cones.

I hope one day my kids will tell their children stories about homecoming parades, ice cream cones outside of the Red Rooster and Dad going to work to keep the residents of High Street nice and warm on cool September evenings.



A couple of weeks ago, I snapped a few photos of The Compound's kids decked out in Pointer blue and white, and this is my one of my favorites. Living in The Compound is another big part of these guys' culture. I wonder what kind of mental pictures will be created by these crazy Compoundians when they share their stories someday?!




"Eternity was in that moment."
William Congreve