
This past weekend my wife had this wonderful idea,well in her mind anyway. Let us gather the clan and go to "The Backwoods Fest".The fest is composed of grown old hippies,professional flea marketers,tree huggers and general free spirits. And the reason I go, the world's greatest bean soup. Home made,hearty,and slow cooked it is the food of gods. It also figures in my story later.
Gabe and his mother were running in a fund raiser for his school so Ethan represented The Little Rat Pack on this outing. His mother, two sister-in-laws and my favorite brother-in -law rounded out our group. Once we arrived I felt like a dingy of khaki in a sea of denim. But ya know I kinda liked it. Most of the vendors seemed ... well happy.They were enjoying what they were doing and it showed. Ethan got out of his granddad powered Radio Flyer to watch a man cutting out things with a pedal-powered bandsaw. When he finished, he took the piece he had just cut ,gave it to Ethan and thanked him for watching so intently. It was a small bison, which Ethan named "Piggy" for some reason only his 4 year old mind found logical. My wife bought wooden trucks for the boys from the man, so maybe it was just a marketing ploy. But on this pleasant near Autumn afternoon even my cynical mind didn't think so.
OK now back to the bean soup. We had just seated our group down to feast on our soup.Man oh man it was good. Suddenly there was a crash from the other side of the area. Two women were wrestling , punching, and rolling around in "the mud,the blood,and the beer".( OK,OK! technically it was mud and bean soup, but don't you just love to say "the mud,the blood,and the beer"? Thank you Johnny Cash.)It didn't last long, people broke it up almost at once. Security men escorted the them away and my clever wife told Ethan they had fallen in the mud. The story we got a little later was woman A had opened a jar of baby food and it had sprayed on woman B, who was sitting at the next table. "B" then grabbed a handful of soup,I told you it was hearty,and flung it onto "A" proclaiming" how do you like it?!" And as the poets say "the fight was on". My big city sister-in-law was awe struck and wide eyed when she said" Well now I see why its called backwoods!" Ya can't make this stuff up, but ya gotta love it.
A "Boy named Sue" reference...well done! Here in Penna there is town, McClure" that has a 3 day bean soup festival.
ReplyDeleteTruly this could not be fabricated! Unbelievable. Did the baby ever get his lunch once his mother was done with the fightin'?
ReplyDeleteI've never heard this 'the mud the blood and the beer' so thank you AND Johnny Cash!
You live in about the greatest place ever!
ReplyDeleteSounds almost more 'hillbilly' than 'hippie'. Women fighting in the mud and bean soup...I wish you were making it up! Glad you had a good time.
ReplyDeleteMLS; I only have one thing to say to you, GO ENGINEERS
ReplyDeleteDaniBP: You know i never thought of that, I hope the baby got feed!
Toad: as Jeremy Irons said"You have no idea"
Shelly: I wish I had made it up!
My best things - woodcutting, soup and bare-kuckle fighting over trivia.
ReplyDeleteI'm moving to near you.
ELS
Hi James,
ReplyDeleteI just discovered you through Cabin & Cottage. You crack me up - please post more often!
A good country area obviously!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat would a gathering like that be without a good roll in the mud though in my experience here it is the men the blood and the beer!!!!!!
Oh my goodness! Quick thinking on your wife's behalf to explain to Ethan... And yes, I like the way that the sound of "The mud, the blood and the beer" trips off the tongue - have just spent the last minute repeating it to myself... ha ha!! X
ReplyDeleteIt never ceases to fail, YOU always have the best stories to tell!! Next time I see the words 'bean soup', I think of you and the mud, blood and beer (well sort of) wrestling women of the backwoods!!
ReplyDeleteBye the way...THANK YOU for the hubba bubba, you made this 50's girl smile for a long while! So happy to just get your comment.
: ) Deb
Oh my lord. This one will have me chuckling for quite a while.
ReplyDeleteI could just picture everyone sitting around, laughing and enjoying their soup, when all hell broke loose. Stunned silence and then a quick tap dance to explain to the children (grownups don't REALLY behave like that-they "fell" in the mud).
Loved it, James. Thanks for the grins.
You've been added to the Home on the Range Smarter than the Average Bear Blogroll.
ReplyDeleteWelome, you join some above average bloggers. It's a good fit.
O.K. James. I've been very patient. Nothing posted since September 17. I'm sure you have some stories to tell. Get crackin'.
ReplyDelete