i must say, autumn on the east coast is quite nice. instead of signaling the impending nine months of drizzle and grey skies, "fall" translates to crisp but sunny weather, gorgeous foliage, funny little halloween decorations, and drinking warm apple cider. the photos above are from the 41st autumn glory festival in the very western bit of maryland last weekend.
my boyfriend timmy and i went to celebrate his 23rd birthday and to explore that part of the state. we went camping at rocky gap state park, visited the once-booming and now eerily-empty town of cumberland, and could have made it to west virginia and pennsylvania easily but instead chose to stop at antietam battlefield on the way back. i saw more mccain signs out there than i ever have before. i definitely felt out of place among the largely older, rural, conservative, religious crowd, but found oakland really interesting. the festival took over all of garrett county, ranging from the main parade-- lots of cheerleaders, high school marching bands, shriners and beauty queens-- to glass blowing, clog dancing, choral performances, free admission to the historical museum, a tour of the court house, and many food vendors. we saw a puppet show entitled "autumn declares god's glory," which featured gospel singing puppets proclaiming "jesus saves." with the exception of the election signs, i felt like it could have been pretty much any year in the past 20. the cheerleaders' high-top shoes, weirdly long skirts and abundance of sequins really made it feel like 1992. it was kind of like the movie napoleon dynamite, in which the characters' lifestyles and clothes really fit the mid-90s aesthetic more than today's.
other than that, i've been extremely busy fitting in my homework, classes, work, preparations for study abroad (i didn't realize getting all that paperwork taken care of would take so much time!) and fun time too. i'm doing my big anthro project this semester on the baltimore tradition of the great halloween lantern parade, an awesome community festival sponsored by a few cdcs and an organization called the creative alliance. my fieldwork so far has consisted of a few festivals, making my own lantern at a workshop on saturday, and volunteering at a workshop on sunday. the parade, next weekend, should be amazing. this is one of the coolest projects ever.
it is fall break today and tomorrow, and i'm taking my time doing homework, drinking tea, and running errands. i'm welcoming this little break!!
