My Life as a Novel

is the 66th Annual Watermelon Festival in Hampton County. And this weekend, Kyle will be the Prodigal Son - returning home to make his momma proud.

Where we live now, there's nothing that compares to the Watermelon Festival. Every store-front window in Hampton is painted-up with watermelons and vines. Businesses open and close strategically so that the owners are able to both enjoy the festival and make a profit from it. There are vendor booths of craftspeople peddling their wares. More sugar and deep-fryers than should be allowed in a small Southern town simultaneously. (Seriously, the sight of it would give a diabetic the cold sweats.) A street dance that shuts down a couple of roads for several hours on Friday night.

There's something about a whole town celebrating together like this that makes me happy. I mean, no one else cares about the Watermelon Festival -- except maybe a few state politicians attempting to hob-knob with Everyman. But it seems to me that everyone in Hampton gets excited about the Watermelon Festival. (Mind you, these are not my assertions based on the results of a scientific study. My mother-in-law is Edith, queen of Watermelon Country*, so my views of this event are skewed by my perception of her love for The Watermelon Festival.) And that kind of excitement is fun for me to be around. So I'm excited about this weekend!



*No, she's not really the Queen. There's one of those, and she'll be riding high on her parade float on Saturday morning. I'll be there to see her. :)

Labels: family