First, let's start with the kaboom, Independence Day. I did not realize my own independence until I had kids. Once you have dependents, you look back on your life and say aloud, "What did I do before I had kids?" "What was 'free time' and how did I spend it?" No one answers those questions. You are simply surrounded by fireworks and explosions within your own brain. Every 4th of July in Brownstown, the night sky becomes a colorful bombardment of light as my brain tries to process it all.
On the 5th, my wife and I went on a tour de force of downtown Johnstown via the bicycle. Our children were still recovering from Independence Day and approved of this athletic date night. We parked the Subaru in Cambria City and pedaled our parental hearts out. First stop - Balance. First order - Street Corn. This Main Street eatery makes a damn good street corn. "Local sweet corn deep fried and rolled in spices, mayo and parmesan cheese".
You know you are getting old when you start a date with street corn. Or, maybe you feel like its the 1800s when you pedal up and order corn. Either way, the 5th was my Independence Day. I had my woman. I had my bicycle. I ate me some corn.
From there, we rode to the Inclined Plane, the world's steepest vehicular Inclined Plane. We hopped on and rode that pulley system wonder to the top. We rode our bikes around Westmont before ordering calamari on the deck @ Asiago's. That's right, we went street corn to deck squid. Parents gone wild!
Exactly a week later, we biked again from Cambria City to downtown, this time to destination Flood City Cafe. The fusion of biking and food and music is alive in downtown Johnstown. This movement, both literal and figurative, is starting to take shape. We listened to The Evergreens play at multiple locations throughout July. This female duo takes some classic songs and breathes new life into familiar lyrics. My daughters and I have powerfully danced to their power ballads for years now. We even got to sing Happy Birthday to my wife from the Flood City Cafe stage with The Evergreens on this occasion.
Bottomline - go into downtown Johnstown by car, bike, or horse and buggy. Eat the food. Support local musicians. Dance.
The next day, I took my 4-year-old and 2-year-old daughters camping in Bedford. Nestled in the countryside is Dunning Creek. There, on the second Saturday of July, you would have found 2 Dads and 4 daughters. We had tents. We had boats. We had mud. There was only one Mom and her name was Mother Nature.
It was a great adventure. During the canoeing of Dunning Creek, I was Lewis. My 4-year-old was Clark. My 2-year-old was Asleep. Lewis had to paddle, up stream, and had to paddle around Asleep's body. Clark did not have a paddle, but was full of ideas. Lewis, Clark and Asleep made it to shore. Asleep remained asleep while Lewis freed Asleep from her life jacket. Clark went back to making "mud balls" and throwing them at a tree. Greatness in the The Outdoors. Next up, The Barn.
The 26th edition of Barnball was potentially the hottest on record. This 2-on-2 basketball tournament is surrounded by hay and a strong sense of community. In 2019, my partner and I gave it everything we had in sauna-like heat. For the second time in my barnyard life, I finished in second place. The traditional and perfect award for 2nd place - Frank's Red Hot.
The day after Barnball requires water therapy. I attended a Stackhouse Park birthday party. I soaked my bones in the stream like a true pioneer. I caught salamanders for the kids. We turned a watering hole into a celebration. It was a great way to end the weekend and start the recovery process.
From biking to canoeing to barnballing, I am grateful...for my family, for my health, for my town.
Finish July joyfully by starting with some good-old fashioned gratitude...
and maybe some street corn.
