Block Party

Our neighborhood association planned a block party for yesterday.  Due to extreme heat, it was moved to 6:00 p.m., with the hope it would be cooler.  I learned for the first time why it is called a "block" party.  I always thought that was because it was for the people on your block.  Rather, it means you block off the street.  Our group of houses were chosen because you could park a car across at the side streets, and anyone who needed to could go around, but this area was blocked off.  While there had not been a designated house,  ours ended up getting chosen, because there was some shade in the front yard in which people could sit more comfortably. The sun was brutal.  Also, our driveway is the only one that is flat, so it was better for tables and grills.  So we ended up "hosting" a large party,  without even knowing we were going to be doing that!

Thirty people had responded that they would attend.  But as the evening progressed, more and more people showed up.  Counting children, there were probably more like sixty to seventy people wandering around.  Not all came for dinner, but some came after the eating time.  It was really cool to get to meet our neighbors, who are all ages, from seven or eight months to eighty seven!  They are also from everywhere, Poland, Ireland, India, China, etc.  They are veterinarians and professors, business people, counselors, retirees.

The kids really enjoyed the 'blocked off street', and brought out all their riding vehicles of every sort,  little wheels, big wheels, a motorized plastic car, and so forth!   We all enjoyed getting a chance to interact with one another.  Several of us have not lived in the neighborhood for very long, so this was a special treat.

There was more food than you could possibly imagine, and quite a bit of it was ethnic food from home countries.  The baklava was out of this world!  Of course, there were hamburgers and hotdogs, too.  The only bad part of the evening was the suffering from eating too much!

The best part was,  everyone who brought a table, or chair, crockpot or cooler,  grill or dish, also took it away, so there was essentially no clean up!   This was the easiest party we've every given,  and we didn't have to really do anything at all, except enjoy it!