God and Moonshine

What a difference a long weekend makes. I had a blast this Memorial Day weekend. The sun was out, Louis was full of smiles, we ate good home cooked Chinese food and fish on the grill and we went to the annual Moonshine Festival.

Our friends, Martha and Ryan (seen here with Emma the spider monkey) drove from D.C. to meet Louis and attend the New Straitsville Moonshine Festival. Ryan and Martha were Peace Corps volunteers with Mary in Nepal. Ryan and Mary lived in the same small town in far eastern Nepal, and Martha lived in Nepal's southwest region, bordering India. They were married last October.

Both Martha and Ryan are involved in international development projects that take them to some great international locations. After driving an hour southeast from Columbus I think we all started to see the need from some more homegrown development projects. New Straitsville used to be known as the Bootleg Capital of Ohio. Mary's grandmother, Louise, when told we were planning to go there said, "New Straitsville? We used to buy Straitsville liquor in college!" I was really hoping for some interesting history, a demonstration of a working moonshine still, and dare I say, a taste just a taste of some devil water.

There was a still but no shine to sample. For the most part the festival reminded me of just how economically depressed so many rural areas of America have become. The festival was set up like most county fairs, some rickity rides, chances to win stuffed animals and lots and lots of fried food. It was a very rural mix of over-the-top patriotic/praise for Jesus music and a collection of people much more interested in finding the moonshine than in finding God.

Here's a collection of photos from the weekend ending with a great one of Louis and his two newest friends. It was a great weekend and I'm glad we got out of town to see another side of life in Ohio, but I'm still on a search for a taste of the "shine".