Ya know you're a redneck...... Mule day??

      My daughter came home the other day & told me about something that happend in school. The teacher said they would start a new chapter on Tuesday.  One of the students, a senior, said oh yeah, there ain't no school on Monday it's mule day weekend.  Krystal said don't ya mean "Labor Day", the teacher rolled his eyes & said, yup down here the don't know what Labor day is  Krystal  said isnt it your job to teach them.  "Bless their hearts"      Last year on Labor Day I had only been in the south a month. I saw advertisements, about "Mule Day". I was told it was like a festival. I really wanted to check it out.  I was looking forward to exploring the ways of these southerners. It was raining so hard last Labor Day they cancled the mule day festivities. I was sad:-(      On my way home from church on Sunday I asked a young man, who went to church with us, what Mule Day was. He said something like "it's really redneck, I go EVERY YEAR....... They have mule pulls....."I thought whoooo hoooo, my kinda shindig;-) ( technically it's not a shindig)       Come Monday morning, I woke up early, threw on my cow girl boots, grabed my umbrella, saddled up my horse, & rode into the big bad city of Ider.   No I didn't, I don't have cow girl boots, or a horse, and Ider is defiantly not a city.  It has  only one flashing red light, & a population of 723 in 5.4 square miles. (yeah I just googled it).  I told al y'all I live I the middle of NO WHERE.        As Krystal and I headed to the mule day festivities I realize we are following a bunch of pick up trucks with people  pouring out of the beds, no I'm kidding, but it is legal to ride in the back of a truck down here. I parked the car, open the door, & hear the sounds of horses galiping, ahhh the pleasant aroma if horse manure fills the air.  I look around & feel very under dressed in my tshirt, jeans & sneakers.  Everyone has on country button up shirts, coveralls, boots & cowboy hats, well  not everyone but at first it appeared that way to me.       Krystal & I found a spot to stand to wait for the parade. I did not enjoy the guy standing next to us spitting every 30 seconds cause he had dip in his mouth.   It started raining, thank God I remembered my umbrella.   The parade was about 20 min to 1/2 hr long.  Ider high school marching band, horses, fire trucks, floats, ambulances, tow trucks, followed up by mules, your typical parade. They tossed candy at ya, I watched it land in the puddle that had formed next to where I was standing. Everyone looked a tad bit cranky & wet. The rain temporarily stopped.      As we were walking into the park there were 3 people with orange vests on collecting the $2.00 entry fee.  Walking down the paved area of the park we were dodging horse/mule poop. Oh never mind, I WILL be stepping in poo before the end of the day, why fight it. There were a few vendors,  wood crafts,  a very good pencil artist. I did stop & admire his art work. There were also a couple of church groups giving out necklaces & bibles, a couple people selling raffles for a gun & gator. Of course there were a few food vendors too.  No fried dough or blooming onions though, I found this to be a little odd.       We checked out the old cars show. I did enjoy looking at the dozen or so cars. Then we moseyed on over to the mule pull.  I was impressed. Teams of mules were pulling 2000 lbs of cement blocks. By the time I left they were up to 7500 lbs.       I decided to walk down to the stage & see what kind of music was there. YEAH, contemporary Christian, I enjoyed listening to that band for a couple of songs, then another band took the stage. Oh boy a banjo, base, & 2 guitars. They looked like a middle aged man & his teenage boys. This group sang country gospel. As I was listening to them perform I noticed past the stage, in the distance, there was a big ol' farm tractor pulling a hay covered wagon giving people hay rides.  The sky opened, the rain started coming down heavier. I'm outta here.  Mule day is just a simply good ol' fashioned  country fair, straw chewing folk & all.  Will I go back next year, maybe.  A mule is a hybrid equid, a cross of a female horse and a male donkey, often used for transport in rugged terrain.