Celebration.

Sorry it's been a while since my last post.

Today, in the great town of Nazareth, we celebrated NAZARETH DAY! Everyone cheer! In the four years that I have lived here, I have never been exposed to this "three-day festival of fun and entertainment." After meeting a friend for breakfast, we decided to venture into town and see for ourselves what it was all about.

We started in the town circle. There was a moon-bounce and a sno-cone machine. There was a man playing the accordion while singing about the stars that shine in his lover's eyes, his lover who lived in Texas. There was a tent set up in front of a church where two little old ladies sold shoo fly pies. We walked down another street where tables were set up in front of all of the shops. Items that obviously sat on the shelf for too long and needed to be sold were set out with little signs saying "Pay with the Honor System." The Army-Navy store sold flourescent hunting gear, socks, and hats. We saw graffiti, if "Jesus is coming...soon" counts as graffiti.

We then made our way over to the park where about 50 tents were set up to shelter everything from marionets to honey from the sweltering sun. It was all fine and nice until...we hit the Tea Party tent. You know what "Tea Party" I mean (not the tea party with cups and saucers and teddy bears and pink cookies). My friend and I, being the challenging individuals that we are, went right up to the table. In .2 seconds, we were lectured by a woman whose first words were:

"We are not racists, and we don't lynch nobody."

.......................................wait. WHAT? That is not even remotely what I thought as I approached the table, but by telling me that, the woman put a completely negative spin on the whole situation. She handed us copies of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the "Nine Principles" that all of the Tea Party members closely follow. I could barely hear her; I was still stuck on her introductory sentence. The way she said it...so defensive, like I had marched up to her and said, "YOU are a racist! How dare you?!"

And that is how I spent my Nazareth Day. Being berated by a woman with a teapot pendant around her neck.