Can't Take the Small Town Out of the Girl

I was thinking about how to end this blog.  This song, "Who Says You Can't Go Home" by Jennifer Nettles and Bon Jovi sums it up perfectly.  I spent the past 18 years of my life trying to leave my small town.  I felt suffocated and wanted to go out and meet the rest of the world.  I wanted to explore, to find a new lifestyle, to be on my own!  But the past year has shown me that as far away as I can get from my small town, I have noticed that I take it with me whereever I go.

I have noticed that regardless of where I am, I will always be a small town girl.  Countless times, I have had to go back upstairs because I forgot to lock my door.  I have walked right into my friends rooms without remembering that the polite thing to do is knock (of course, this has only happened to my closest friends though!).  Instead of wishing I had some Oragel, I have found myself wishing I had a shot of whiskey to numb my tooth.  I have had many conversations with my friends here where I realized the things I do, the words I say, the beliefs I have aren't shared universally. 

I have realized that living in a small town has been integral to my person.  I wouldn't be who I am today if it wasn't for where I grew up.  I love going to the mall and dressing up, but I also love getting dirty on the quads or heading out for shooting practice.  Lilly is a part of who I am.  And no one can take that away from me.

I hope those reading this blog have been able to see how special small towns are.  I hope that they have been able to fall in love with my small town as deeply as I have.  It may be different, it may be uncanny, but it is pure.  I enjoy being in State College, but I can't wait to go back to Lilly in the summer.

School Family

When I went home this weekend for Easter, I ran into a couple friends from high school.  We chatted for a while, catching up since we havent seen each other since graduation.  We asked each other what we knew of other people from our class, exchanging such gossip for a good hour.  It made me realize how close my graduating class was.  I'm not so sure that places outside of a small town can be that way.

My entire graduating class

I am positive that everyone has had close friends in high school.  You hung out and spent a lot of time with this group of people.  But depending on the size of your graduating class, you might not have been so close with everyone in the class.  I can't imagine graduating with thousands of people, like some of my friends have told me.  You could not possibly get to know the whole group on a personal level.  I graduated with 136 people.  I can still name every one of the people.  I can tell you their parents, their friends, where they lived, and even more.  No, I wasn't a creeper.  But I spent 13 years with them.  I had classes with all of them.  I had field trips with all of them.  I rode the bus with all of them.  I KNEW them all.



Joey (middle; standing) with his graduating class



Schools all around my house were just as small.  My friend Josh graduated with 180.  My friend Marissa graduated with 110.   My cousin Joey's class was even smaller; he graduated with 66 people.  Before graduation, Joey and I talked about how close we were to our class, and how sad it was that we were leaving them all.  We also were kind of scared for heading off to college.  We grew up with the same 136 (or 66 for him) people.  It has always been the same people with the same atmosphere.  I do miss that camaraderie.  But Penn State has shown me that stepping out of your comfort zone isn't so bad.  Thrown into a situation where I was no longer with all people that I knew, I have learned a lot about networking.  It's a new experience to have to start over making new friends.  While I miss the closeness of Penn Cambria, Penn State is definitely preparing me for the working world.  The world is much bigger than a small town, and I am more than ready to expand!

Here Comes Peter Cottontail...

As I came into my town earlier this evening, I noticed things were different from the last time I travelled home.  The sights, the smells, the decorations only confirmed one thing to me:  Easter is here!  I don't know about other places, but in Lilly, Christian holidays are a big deal.  Christmas and Easter are the biggest holidays around.  It is such a community event, and we have a rough schedule that we follow every year!

First of all, my high school never had a spring break.  Ever.  It sucked.  But what we did have was Good Friday and Easter Monday off.  (For people who don't know, that is the Friday before and Monday after Easter).  So it's as close to a spring break as we can get. 

Good Friday is important.  It is the day that Christ died.  From 12-3, it is known as the Hours of Agony-- the three hours that he spent on the cross until he died.  I don't mean to give a religion lesson, but I had to explain this because in Lilly, everything closes for those 3 hours.  The bank, the post office, the corner store, the hardware store, EVERYWHERE.  I am not saying that all of the towns around us do the same thing, but for the most part, a lot of places do close.  During that time, there is mass at my church (and I assume at the other churches in my town.  It is hard for me to say though, because I am Catholic, and the other churches are Lutheran, Methodist, etc). 

Trey, at the egg hunt in my yard

Saturday is a fun day.  We take the kids to egg hunt after egg hunt.  The church, the fire hall, my aunt's church, a couple of the bars (yes, in my town, the bars get involved); all of these places hold egg hunts on their properties.  I remember having so much fun at these events.  Likewise, when we take my nephews to them now, they are ecstatic about finding the eggs.  After all of this fun, we head up to my grandmother's house to color eggs. 

Sunday is Easter.  We wake up and run downstairs to find that the Easter bunny yet again stopped at our house and left us baskets.  Of course, we are all old enough now to know it is our parents, but seeing the excitement on my nephews' faces is priceless.  We eat a breakfast of candy, more candy, some cereal, with a dessert of candy.  All sugared up, we go to church at 8 oclock.  For this mass, we all dress up moreso than usual.  Typically, my sisters and I wear our Easter dresses and the males wear a full suit.  Once the mass is over, we head to my grandmothers, where we get yet another basket, and have a little egg hunt through her house for the children.

Troy, at my grandmother's house

Easter dinner is one of my favorites.  Ham, yams, potatoes, harutka (don't know how to spell that.  It's an egg-like food from my slovak side), deviled eggs, and miscellaneous other sides await me at the table. I eat as much at Easter as I do at Thanksgiving.  I regret it later on, when my stomach is about to burst, but in the moment everything is so good!

I am sure that many other towns, big or small, have similar events for Easter.  I enjoy it at home, though, because the sense of community and togetherness permeates the whole holiday.  At egg hunts you see people you haven't seen in a while.  You find out people had children over the past year.  You catch up on everything.  At church people who don't usually come every Sunday  decide to join in the celebration for Easter.  Everyone dresses up nicer than usual.  It is nice to see everyone put forth such a great effort for this occasion.  I am sure similar experiences exist, but I can only hope that other people enjoy Easter as much as I do!

Remedies from a Small Town

Picture by: Legends of America

Today I had one of the worst days in a while.  Everything seemed to go wrong.  And to top it all off, I had a toothache.  Yea, it doesn't sound like a big deal, but maaaannnn that sucker hurt!  I bought some oragel, but that didn't seem to do the trick.  And I thought to myself, "These are the times that I wish I was home!"  Why?  Because at home we have many different remedies to fix every ache imaginable!

These remedies may not be normal.   Some may not even be legal...but all have worked for my family, and many around us.  So I figured I would let other people in on some of the secrets!

First back to the toothache.  What to do when you have that ache in your mouth that is driving you crazy.  Back at home, we use something that isn't quite conventional.  I am not trying to joke around when I say that to get rid of a toothache, you should just take a shot of whiskey.  Don't actually swallow (though of course, you CAN afterward if you want to ;) ) but instead, hold the shot over the tooth that is hurting.  I am not sure personally what in whiskey does this, but the whiskey actually numbs the spot.  It works even better than oragel or any toothache medicine!  Likewise, when babies are teething, some people dip their finger in whiskey and run the finger over the baby's gums to numb the pain for them.  This is obviously not enough for the baby to even swallow anything, but it definitely calms them down.

JackDaniels.com

Another nice cure is when you have a rash.  I see it more for baby rashes, but it can work on other rashes as well.  You mix corn starch and vitamin E together, and smear it onto the rash.  In no time at all, the rash will go away.  In the same respect, if you get a minor burn, dipping the burn into milk leeches the burn out and relieves the pain a lot. 

What can you do if you have a killer headache and the advil/tylenol doesn't work?  Well, before running to the doctor, try putting vicks vapor rub on your temples.  If the headache is bad enough, also hold an ice pack overtop of it.  I've done this many times at home, and it reallly seems to help.

There ya go.  Some at-home small town remedies to help some aches and pains.  There are many more that I have heard of, but these ones are ones that I myself have actually used, and have found to work. 

Church Pew and Barstool Kind of Town

Today I was listening to some country music while studying outside.  I was listening to Jason Aldean on Pandora, specifically.  One of his songs came on, "Church Pew and Barstool."  I have never heard this one before, but as I was listening to it, I couldn't believe how true it was. 

The song goes along the lines of the fact that in small towns there are a lot of churches and bars.  It also tells of how the community judges people based on these two places.  How you are a church goer, or you bar hop.  And that there are some people in between.  I can completely relate to that!

Picture by The Diocese of Altoona/Johnstown

If you asked a group of people from Lilly to describe the town, one person would look at the others, laugh, and say, "Oh, you know, Lilly: the town of about 10 bars, 10 churches, and a couple houses in between."  Take my house for example.  Directly across the road from it is the GBU, a bar.  Down the alley from my house is Sokol's, a Slovak club.  And further down the street is George's Bar and Grill.  That is just within a block from my house!  There is still many more around the town.  Talking about churches, there is 2 Catholic Churches, a Luteran church, a Polish church, and a Methodist church within 2 blocks from my house.  So, regardless of how funny that statement could be, it is actually quite true!

A picture of the GBU from my yard

At community events, there is always talk among people about others.  Let's face it, we all like to gossip.  When I am sitting with my grandmother, I always hear the old ladies talking.  "Oh, you know those McCabes.  Poor Jim has to wheel Aggie in anymore.  But you know, they always make it to 11 oclock mass, bless their hearts."  "Oh boy, that Plummer boy better wise up.  Paul said he has been to the bar every night this week.  EVERY NIGHT! But did we see him in church this week, no we did not!  It's quite a shame.  Especially since his mother is such a sweetheart."  "You have to laugh at Old Shminn.  He enjoys his beer alright, but regardless of how he feels in the morning, he makes it to mass.  I suppose that's all that matters."  The comments go on.  But everyone is labeled by their attendance in church or the bars. 

So I listened to this song and had to laugh.  My family and I have always joked about how many churches and bars are in our town.  I never thought about the fact that other small towns could be like that too!

At the bonfire, out in the sticks

      I don't know about anyone else, but I am definitely LOVING this weather.  After an unsuccessful week in Hawaii (where it rained everyday) it has been much needed.  The weather makes me want summer to be here right now.  In any event, it has me missing home.  Good weather meant one thing for the weekends: fires.  Bonfires, campfires, fires in the backyard, I love them all. 

Photo by: Michele Simonet

Fires are the site of most social gatherings.  I'm sure that most of us have been to them.  I can't imagine a different way to hang out with my friends in..well...every season besides Winter.  Sitting around the fire, making smores, listening to music.  It's the best time in the world!  Some of my favorite memories are from around the fire.  There were many summers where my friends and I would play hide and seek, or other games, where the fire was base (of course, the FIRE wasn't base, but the deck around it).  One time, my friends and I were all sitting there, talking about the summer (this was at the end of August last summer, right before we came to school).  All of a sudden, my friend Michele, who was falling asleep, yells "Oh S&!#" and you hear a loud rip.  Her chair ripped and she fell through it.  Hilarious!  My favorite moments are just telling stories throughout the night.

Even in high school, everyone loved fires.  Fridays, in class, you can hear everyone talking about who is having a fire and inviting others to come.  Smores, hot dogs, and drinks are always there.  Music keeps the party flowing.  It is always a good time.

Fires are also central to my family gatherings.  Pig roasts are very common.  Once the pig is finished, we keep the fire going long into the night.  When my family camps at Raystown Lake, we have fires every night.  Sometimes, it is nice to sit by the campfire and watch the stars.  Also, there are traditions associated with fires.  Every Portage Homecoming football game, my uncle Joe has a fire in his backyard.  Even though I do not go to Portage high school, I still come over to spend time with everyone.  Our whole family knows he has this party, and usually most people attend. 

So, I'm heading home this weekend.  What's on the agenda? Fire on Friday night! :D

Do you believe in the 2nd amendment?

It has always been a national debate, whether or not the right to bear arms is good.  However, where I live, there is no debate.  Guns are a part of our lives.  I can't honestly remember a time that there wasn't a riffle or pistol in my house.  My Gram and Pap have two gun cabinets in their back room.  My uncle has a couple in the garage.  There are two that are mine, specifically.  Most people in my town are this way.  Not everyone; some people choose not to.  But it is more common to at least have one, even if you don't shoot it often. 

Until recently, I have just thought that being around guns was what everyone did.  I am so accustomed to being around them that I didn't even think that others may not.  But now thinking about it, people who live in the heart of Philly, or in less rural places would not have the ability that I did.  It's sad really, because I love them.

On the outskirts of my town there are some coal dumps from the old mines.  I've mentioned them before, in a previous post (you should check it out, its my favorite! "Gotta Get a Little Mud on the Tires").  Anyway, people go up there all the time to set up targets.  It's a fun time practicing and having contests. 

I have been shooting guns since I can remember.  My family has talked about it all my life.  Actually, they start telling us when we are young the importance of gun safety.  We have allowed my nephew, Troy shoot our beebee guns.  Of course there were a TON of adults with him, and never by himself.  The other picture I have is just a funny one I took at my camp. 

Everyone knows the danger surrounding guns.  Many people avoid them because of this.  But not everyone knows the fun and excitement of them.  My family hunts.  My family target practices.  I wish other people could witness and experience these things.  Because they are things that people from small towns can and do enjoy.