Weekend of Memories

Well, as all my Facebook friends know I attended the annual Fiddler's Convention this past weekend. It is held on the campus of Athens State University, which was built in the 1800's as an all girl's school. The campus is absolutely gorgeous! It just screams the south! I guess I should take a brief moment and explain to you what exactly a Fiddler's Convention is. It is mostly like a festival. There are booths every where with arts and crafts for sell (for my Arkansas friends, the arts and crafts are like War Eagle), there are all kinds of competitions: fiddling, buck dancing, bluegrass, and a lot of others that I am not even sure what they are. The main competition takes place on the steps of Founder's Hall (a beautiful old victorian library, that I thought I got a picture of, but can't find), meanwhile the contestants that aren't competing are playing all over the campus. You can just walk around, and if you hear something you like stop, sit, and listen. Everyone brings lawn chairs, or blankets to sit on while enjoying the music and the beautiful weather. There are all kinds of food booths there as well. The fun starts on Friday and doesn't end till they announce the winner late Saturday night. In the years past I would go on both nights and stay almost the entire time. I was thinking we could stick with that tradition this year, but Roger, being the logical one said this probably wasn't a good idea with a four year old. He is a wise man. Jedidiah did great though. We arrived around 2:00 on Saturday and stayed until around 10:00. We all enjoyed the food and the music. I ran into one of my best friends from high school. That was a fun reunion. Overall, the Fiddler's Convention was lacking something this year, and I can't seem to get it off my mind. You see I haven't attended this festival since 1999, and realized this year that it wasn't the actually festivities that were so great, but that it was the company that made this event such a great joy! As most of you know my dad died in March 2003. I was pregnant with Jedidiah, but at the time was only about 2 months pregnant. This festival was one of the things that me and my dad enjoyed together. He would be there all weekend as would I. We may not have gone together or left together, but it was the time we spent together there listening to the music. This weekend a flood of memories were brought back to me that I will cherish the rest of my life. So, the end result is that the Fiddler's Convention wasn't as great as I had remembered it. A wise friend told me that we remember things as children that were such fun, but when we get older we realize that it was more about the people we shared it with and not the event.

I have attached some pictures taken at the festival. I wish I had taken some of the fiddlers or the competition, but you will see they are mostly of my precious son.


Molly..Isn't she beautiful!

Jedidiah & Molly (his cousin)

Jedidiah & his Nonna (my sister)

Jedidiah climbed this tree....fell out of the tree....and nearly killed himself (my exaggeration) all in a day of being a 4 year old boy! We are still catering to his wounds. They really aren't that bad, there is just a lot of them.