Juneteenth Celebration

Two articles up on SLAC Today, one a sort of profile about a team of riggers at SLAC who wear the same colored helmets in a sort of brotherhood statement and the second about SLAC's 18th Annual Juneteenth Celebration.

Here is where I think being a writer is fun, no matter what it is you're writing about. I had never heard of Juneteenth before, but apparently it is a holiday that is expanding to more and more places. It recognizes the general time when Southern slaves first learned of their freedom. Obviously southerners weren't too keen on letting their free labor know they were now free in a different sense.

I also got to meet the great-great-great-great-great grandson of one of the most famous abolitionists of all-time, John Brown. (Though since he had 20 kids, there are probably a fair amount of his lineage out there. Must be one hell of a family reunion.) So through the article I also brushed up on some history. I had forgotten what John Brown and other abolitionists had done, something that is always important to remember.

Anyways, the celebration included a lunch that cost $12, a bit steep if you ask me, but it went to a good cause and the food was homemade. The barbecue chicken was disappointing, but the ribs, cajun coleslaw, potato salad, peach cobbler, brownies, mac and cheese, and my personal favorite, corn bread and baked beans, were all excellent. Needless to say I sat in my chair the rest of the day feeling slightly stuffed and barely felt hungry enough for dinner at 8:30.

I love barbecues.

Well I'm out for the weekend, planning on biking over the Golden Gate Bridge.

P.S. Sam Adams Summer Ale is now on sale. There is truly nothing more refreshing on a hot summer's afternoon, especially now that it's getting into the 90's here.