If you think the title refers to the blending of nationalities and customs when immigrants hit our shores, legally or creatively, you are quite mistaken. We are going to explore the insanity of family reunions convened under the toasty rays of the summer sun.
Picture yourself crowded into a relatively confined space (kitchen, dining room and living room) with approximately 30 relatives for what my teenage daughter used to call a major "family farkle" (see re-runs of television show, "Laugh In" circa late 1960s and early 1970s).
Since most of my relatives still live in Hungary, I did not experience the annual family reunion phenomenon until I married Hubby. But after the "I do" came the "cast of thousands reunions."
There were so many relatives on his mother's side of the family that they had a separate reunion just for her siblings and their offspring. Mom's core family consisted of 10 children and nearly every one of them energetically continued the multiplication tradition. This gathering was ginormous and for several years the group commandeered a section of Lake Murray Park in south central Oklahoma.
Did I mention the event took place in July? So we were outdoors, enjoying the oven-like temperatures and sharing our food with the ubiquitous flies. For someone who has had spells of heat related barfing, this situation was not quite heavenly.
Since Hubby's immediate family got together Christmas and Thanksgiving at the parental home, there was no need for a separate summer gathering. However, after his parents passed away the siblings decided to keep in touch by having an annual sibs' reunion.
The first reunion was held at the end of July, but then it was moved to June, which was a bit cooler. But this year the temperature gods pulled a fast one and the tolerable breezy warmth of June was replaced by the abnormal stillness of August-like 100 degree plus temperatures. (Someone should give Mother Nature a decent calendar.)
Let's face it, no matter how hard you kick the air conditioner or how many fans stir the air, it is next to impossible to keep a house comfortably cool when it is filled with lots of adults and children as numerous as the stars in the sky. To say the house was warm is a gross misrepresentation of the facts.
Consequently, many of the attendees migrated outside to visit and in hopes of catching a random breeze. Come to think of it, we should have paid all those kids $1 each to get in line and run past us on a regular basis to create an artificial breeze. (Darn. Why do these good ideas pop up several days after the event?)
As is the case with any gathering, people shared past experiences and new ideas, and we all learned about a new product from a footgear line that sounded like crotch (I was later informed that the brand is Crocs). These foot gloves looked like camouflage ballet slippers with individual toes. Although the ones wearing the odd Crocs claimed they were better than ice cream, I'm sticking with the cold, delicious and no toes.
During this event we were not only baked by the heat but also basted with our own sweat, which brings to mind something Paula Deen of Food Network fame quipped as she danced the hot foot jig, "When it's this hot, why bother to use the grill when we can cook the meat on the deck floor?" And believe me, we were nearly well done.
Before our next sibling reunion, we should consider changing the location to a cooler climate like Antarctica. I hear summers are delightful and the penguins will probably enjoy sharing our picnic.
Elizabeth is a freelance writer and former Norman resident. E-mail her at Elizabeth@elizabethcowan.com.
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