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Holidays in very small towns are, well, just plain fun. What can I say. You know almost everyone. You know what they are going to put in the parade. You know who will be cooking what, and you know where to find the best whats. Mountainair's Fourth of July is one of our biggest celebrations, probably because we have four true seasons here in the Rocky Mountains, and July is just about our best month to let it all hang out and throw a party for the whole town. Yesterday was typical for our Jubilee. It began with a parade which includes horses, dogs, classic cars and trucks, our fire engines, ambulance, our US forestry service, a cannon which gets fired from the back of a truck, our police, our businesses, often our county sheriff has representatives, sometimes even our big state politicos show up. This year a favorite was our animal control officer, who crawled inside her dog catcher's cage and was hauled down Broadway. She is a good person, and she is working well beyond her paid hours to get donations to help build a real shelter for homeless animals. Mountainair has lots of homeless animals, but no proper place to put them.
Anyway, it was a good parade. At the end, candy gets tossed at the little children. I've been known to turn into one of those little children, and have eaten some of that candy. Afterwards, we have a genuine old fashioned carnival with rides, a ferris wheel, cotton candy, balloons, and carnival games. We have a rodeo, vendors, live music, and book signings. I was the book signer this year because my sixth book just showed up a few weeks ago.
Book signings in a small town are also a lot of fun. You set up your table under a fancy little shade canopy as close to the sidewalks and live music as possible. You add a few extra chairs, some water, and you wait. In a hurry your friends see you, they join you, sit in the extra chairs, and the catching up, laughter and comraderie is priceless. I enjoy the social aspect more every year, probably because each year I've lost at least one friend or family member, and that makes me cherish everyone so much. Also, there are always a lot of new people who've driven in from other places. I delight in meeting them, especially when they take time to linger and tell me something about themselves.
Finishing everything off in the evening is the fireworks display. Mountainair depends on donations, and our fireworks are magnificent, but don't last quite as long as we'd like. This year, a neighbor who lives a few miles away, must have found a truck load of the best fireworks. His display began before the Town's, was more elaborate, louder, and lasted longer. Wow. Too cool! All in all, what a good day to be an American, small town, or wherever. Just a good day.