Yippee-yi-yo and away we go to enjoy our summer

Summer’s here and the time is right for dancing in the street … or so the old Motown song goes.

The singer then goes on to mention a bunch of places like Chicago, New Orleans, Motor City, and on and on. With all due respect to Marvin Gaye - who wrote the song - I think they should change those cities and update the song. You know, throw in Magdalena and Socorro.

Anyway, that song by Martha and the Vandellas is going on my summer mixtape for my summer road trips. There’ll be a lot of Beach Boys and tons of feel-good songs like Walking on Sunshine by Katrina & The Waves, Lovely Day by Bill Withers, Three Little Birds by Bob Marley, Good Day Sunshine by The Beatles, and most certainly “Yippee-Yi-Yo and Away We Go” by Riders In The Sky.

I shouldn’t bring this up, but I had a weird conversation with the weatherman, and he told me to batten down the hatches because the skies were going to turn nasty this weekend. He said there’s gonna be sheets of rain and peals of thunder and lightning, and it’ll be frightening. So I said, does that mean the Frontier Festival in Magdalena will be called off? Then he said he was pulling my chain; the weather should be mostly sunny with variable clouds.

OK, you’re onto me. That was actually a dream I had about the burgeoning monsoon season. So never fear, it should be a perfect day for revisiting the bygone days of mining and cattle drives. Once a wild town with bars, hotels and gambling for the momentarily solvent cowboys, Magdalena is representative of New Mexico’s frontier days and the Frontier Festival is a glimpse into those times.

There’ll be a parade, artisans, music, food, historical displays, and educational workshops and exhibits. Even a branding forge, a pretend gunfight, a pet parade and of course, the rodeo. In other words, the works. A little bit of the wild west and a lot of New Mexico history with a decidedly Magdalena slant.

And just in time. I feel like I’m missing out on summertime. I mean, we just passed mid-summer and my mind has started to wander, like the days and weeks are running together. I suppose I’m not alone on this, but if the newspaper didn’t come out every Thursday, I wouldn’t know what day it was.

Truth be told, I can’t deny that I’ve been spending an inordinate amount of time indoors cruising the so-called information superhighway. But guess what? This Saturday, other than the Frontier Festival, is the 64th anniversary of the real-life superhighway, the interstate highway system. At least, that’s when President Eisenhower signed the Federal Aid Highway Act into law in 1956.

I don’t know about you, but I have mixed feelings about zooming cross-country along an interstate, stopping only to eat at maybe a Stuckey’s or get gas at a Love’s, but that’s what you do if you want to “make good time.” When John Steinbeck was writing Travels with Charley, this is what he said about the interstates: “These great roads are wonderful for moving goods but not for inspection of a countryside. You are bound to the wheel and your eyes to the car ahead and to the rear-view mirror for the car behind and … at the same time, you must read all the signs for fear you may miss some instructions or orders. No roadside stands selling squash juice, no antique stores, no farm products or factory outlets.”

Of course, Steinbeck was right, and by the time I started driving most of the system was in place, but some sections still had gaps where I guess you could still pull over and get squash juice. As far as I’m concerned, there’s nothing like taking the two-lane blacktops, the ones that tie one community to another, where one can fully digest the peculiarities of any given part of the country.

Sure, we’re all Americans, but we also have this independent streak. And we’re stubborn about it. It’s like the spirit of 1776 is still alive, in a way.

This makes me wonder what I would be up to if I was a colonist back in the 1770s. Weren’t we all British citizens, more or less? Yes, but …

The big July 4th whing-ding in Socorro is just around the figurative corner, which is no mystery since with fireworks stands open, neighbors are waking me up to celebrate a little early. Independence Day falls on a Thursday this year, which ought to make the week a little shorter for some, and for others, it’s when you have to make up all the work you missed the day after.

In the meantime, yippee-yi-yo and away we go!