Festive (funny) Americana: Traveling Tale #1

Okay, so my brother and I were driving through small towns in the eastern part of Oklahoma. We were taking my boys to see their great-grandma who lives in Poteau (sounds like po-toe). It just happened to be July 4th and I don't know why my brother and I didn't anticipate what was to occur about halfway into our 3+ hour drive.

We came to a standstill in Calvin, Oklahoma. Population: less than a thousand I'm sure. Not a place where a traffic jam would normally occur unless someone's cows knocked down a fence and were grazing in the middle of the town square. We were completely and totally stopped on a state highway that passed through the town. After a few minutes of looking at each other and looking at the line of semi-trucks parked on the road in front of us, we made the decision to try to bypass whatever was holding things up. Well, first of all, Calvin is so small that you can't really bypass anything. We quickly discovered this when we crept (guiltily) through a residential street and were stopped almost immediately by a chuckling sheriff's deputy who waved us to the side of the road. "Gotta git on over," he said to us with a shake of his head as though WE were the ones who were not quite right.

And then... it happened. Americana exploded right there on the streets of Calvin. An Independence Day parade to put all others to shame danced festively by us. My boys were excited and impressed. Young children were riding horses and ponies. "Look!" Zachary shouted (repeatedly). "I can't believe I see a TWELVE YEAR OLD BOY driving a TRACTOR on the STREET!!" Yep, it was big and green and had John Deere stamped on the side. Apparently, nothing runs like one of those.

A few minutes into the parade my brother and I pulled out our cameras and starting snapping photos, because, COME ON! We couldn't pass up the opportunity. We had candy thrown into the open window of our car. We were solicited for our vote for the local mayoral election. We saw...wait for this one... a lady being pulled in a home-made kind of chariot contraption by a goat. Yes, I said a goat.

It was the highlight of my day simply for its pure essance of small town Americana. We live in an amazing place, the good ol' U.S.A. Enjoy the pictures. Soak up that essence.