Living in America

A belated happy 4th of July to y'all. Considering this past week has been my only real vacation, though really some of it was work, I thought I'd give you a brief update.

First, my sister Andrea and I took the long road trip to Belmond, Iowa to help clear out my grandma's old house. Melissa had to stay home for work which was understandable since the real goal of the trip was not exactly family time. Grandma Smidt has moved out of her house and into a much more manageable condo. She had a tendency to keep everything, however, and this lead to some rather extensive cleanup and flashbacks to early childhood. Scary pictures, old clothes, old books, Jell-O cartons that were twenty years old, yards of fabric, and many other items were picked through and evaluated one last time.

During this time we also managed to meet up at the tri-annual Cordes family reunion in Titonka, Iowa for food and horseshoes. Before it started the whole Smidt entourage went to Ramsey RCA. The church where both my grandparents grew up and where my grandpa is buried. Cornfields surround the cemetery and contribute to a serene atmosphere. It's always worth the trip as the cemetery basically serves as the family tree for my dad's entire family.

Upon returning to Columbus, Melissa and I took some time to enjoy some Fourth of July festivities. We skipped the fireworks since the crowds are huge and the dog could do without them. But we did make it to Columbus's Doo Dah Parade. The parade isn't your typical patriotic celebration, in fact it is called an un-parade, but it does certainly celebrate the first ammendment. "Floats" this year included the fitness Fidels, the dancing Sadams, and numerous scooters with commuted sentences. My favorite was the float promoting "Soul Power" as an alternative energy source. It was complete with James Brown's "Living in America." Hector enjoyed it thoroughly. Following this, Melissa and I went to the Arbogast house for an Armenian feast, complete with excellent fresh squash and numerous German Shepherd dogs.

In the months to come I will be busy but Melissa might update from time to time. Hope the rest of the summer treats you well.