...So I sang on the way to Flag Day.
I don't know what it is about Flag Day that gets me. But it gets me so. Every year, in a town about 30 miles away, people get together, grab a band and erect a beer tent in honor of Flag Day. There's baseball games and a parade too, I think, but really all I'm concerned with is the beer tent.
And so...the point is to buy a bunch of beer tickets and stand around an empty parking lot, with plastic cup in one hand and a pitcher of beer in the other. The obvious obstacle is to drink as much as you can and wait as long as possible to pee - thereby avoiding the wretchedness of Port-a-John Row.
I love Flag Day because it's like a circus. There are the obvious attractions - the fights, the stumblers, the obviously-didn't-look-in-the-mirror...ers. And then there are the REALLY bad dancers - who don't realize that they are bumping and jumping and butt smacking air for all to see. But by far - the best - is the crowd spotting. From the outskirts of the crowd, just near the ticket booth and across from where the band is playing - you can get a good glimpse of old classmates - who don't know you're there. They run along gleefully with husbands they think are cuter than they are. They're intoxicated and flashing body parts...or they've changed hair color. Or they look like they've just eaten a tub of cotton candy and washed it down with Jolt and have no problem telling you - about their love lives while spilling beer all over themselves.
Beer goes down quicker and easier at Flag Day. It could be because they're in those plastic cups. Or because you're walking around looking for people and drinking as you're doing it. Or because it's hot outside. Or because it's Flag Day and why the hell not.
After walking through crowds three times - I found Maegin, Chris & Gabe right outside Port-a-John Row. We met up with Rachel and Leslie on the other side of the grounds, where I filled my cup and tried to forget about the drama that had taken place just before we'd gotten there. And for a few hours, anyway, Flag Day was fun. I wandered back and forth from the stage with a deliciously drunk Maegin - who I can't wait to get drunk with again (damn Flag Day for not serving gin!), I made fun of a man in an orange shirt who was hopping and dancing like those crazy people who try out for American Idol or America's Got Talent. (And I saw him the next day while having Father's Day Breakfast with my Dad & brother...)
And I sung that cute little ditty above on the way to the beer tent - which made Rachel laugh.
When I got home, I crashed on the couch since I had to be up early...but I wished I'd have stayed out longer. It had been a night heavily laden with drama - but the fun still peeked through.
Oh Flag Day...what you do to me.
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