Another new town, more strange-faces soon to be familiar. An exciting time indeed on any adventure. And this new adventure happily began on a national holiday. For me, New Years’ are always filled with high hopes and low jubilation; Christmas is usually a hit or miss on overall enjoyment and Halloween I could take or leave. However, the 4th of July is possibly one of my favorite holidays, with the exception of Valentine’s Day (my personal favorite, due to my take on it being a loved-filled day for all and not just for couples). I like the 4th not so much because of its historical and patriotic significance, though I do ponder the meaning of the day at some point during the festivities. I like the 4th because of a fabulous tradition of going to the Arvada soccer fields with Melissa and her family to watch fireworks, usually preceded by a yummy barbeque. I was very disappointed the few years I wasn’t able to indulge in this fun familial gathering, and though this year I wasn’t in Colorado I did at least have another fabulous experience – at Pete’s Annual Crabtacular!
As you may guess from its name, this is a celebration of life, liberty and… crab. Don’t ask me why exactly, it’s an east coast thing I haven’t quite figured out yet. It was definitely a night of firsts for me. First time cracking open and eating crab (most likely to be my last), first time to see and catch fireflies (they are fun little buggies!) and my first night in the Blue Ridge mountain town of Blacksburg. I have to say, with possible exception of the first ‘first’, I loved them every minute of it all. Unfortunately I have no pictures to prove that, yes I did indeed mallet a poor – but flavorful! – crab in a rather barbaric-land-locked-city-girl fashion. So you’ll just have to take my word for it. After the cleanup of tiny mutilated bodies, we all wandered to a cemetery to watch fireworks. It’s a far cry from the soccer fields of suburban Colorado but the mood was the same and had me reflecting on the paradox that is America and its people. (For more on my thoughts on this, see my post from the 2008 elections.)
Tomorrow will begin the next stage of this new escapade, as I will begin work tomorrow at Virginia Tech’s Language and Culture Institute. I’m excited for this new opportunity to help students improve their English and look forward to meeting my new colleagues. With that in mind, I should best get to bed for a full night’s sleep, I got a busy day ahead of me! I am hoping that this jaunt in the Appalachians will be full of new experiences such as my first night here (though perhaps with a bit less carnage) and have high hopes for all that lies ahead of me here.
P.S. Thanks to Pete for the fantastic celebrations and keep on rocking out the crab-fest!! I’ll just hang by the grill next time… :)
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