Fiddler's Convention

There are times when I so badly wish I had my camera to snap a picture of some of the people I see down here.  This weekend I had the chance as it was the 43rd Old Time Fiddler's Convention here in Athens.  People seriously come from all over the country to this thing every year.  Most of the people though are from Alabama/Tennessee and the surrounding areas.  This was my fourth year to attend the fiddler's convention.  I don't like to spend a whole lot of time there, but going for a few hours, listen to some music, check out the craft tents and of course, getting some amazing food is fun for one evening out of the year.  Seriously- this place is packed with literally thousands of people.  All the hotels in town are booked a year in advance for this weekend, not to mention all the people who drive their RV's and camp out on the front lawn of the university where this is held.  It's not just fiddles either.  It's harmonicas, banjos, mandolins, dobros and all out bluegrass bands.  Not to mention buck dancing.  I didn't get a whole lot of pictures because it was hard to take them in the dark from far away, but I got couple of the contestants.  And I know for a fact that the two I took were from Alabama.  The fist one is really blurry but you get the idea.  You see people looing like this a lot down here.  This really is the south, people.  There's no other way to explain it:) 
The gentelman you see here- not only did he have this lovely beard and hat with the feather in it, he also had a beautiful, long, gray ponytail to go with it!

This guy here?  There's just no way around it- he's a true southern hick.  I love it!

I think Cassie enjoyed her first fiddler convention experience! 

That there is just a small taste of what we see on a regular basis down here.  There is nothing to do about it but smile and enjoy it.  That's part of what I love about the south- anything goes cause nobody cares!

And on a completely different note, I have a story from work.  I was dealing with a little boy who was not wanting to listen very well.  He was starting to mouth off and I was going to have none of it.  I started out saying "Don't fight me" and somewhere in the middle changed to "Don't argue with me".  It got all discombobulated in my mouth and it ended up coming out "Don't fart!"  It was really hard to be serious after that and he got off a little easier than if I wouldn't have messed up:)