My Favorite Things: Belated Midwest Americana Edition

• Town Squares (especially if they are shaped like triangles) with gazebos. I love gazebos.
• Fourth of July fireworks shows put on by community groups where everyone sits on blankets and lawn chairs in the parks or in their own front yards, waving to neighbors and being, in general, quite neighborly.
• Drive-in movie theatres playing double features.
• The fake corn field (weirdest sculpture garden ever) in Dublin, OH. Utterly bizarre.
• Picnics. Especially with gingham-lined pic-a-nic baskets.
• Hammocks. Especially hammocks that swing lazily between enormous oak trees. This is the perfect place to read on a summer afternoon.