Mummers. 9-7-11

I had a meeting this morning at the office closer to my house. The weather was mild, I wasn't feeling sick, so I figured I would walk. As I was walking, I was thinking, 'I bet I look like a duck. No, I look like a mummer!' The first time I heard the word mummer, I didn't know what it meant, either.
I got an email from my friend D asking if I wanted to go with her to Ocean City on a Saturday. The main church there was having a mummer show. I said, 'Sure,' having no idea what I was going to be doing. Something about a parade? Award-winning group from Philly? In a church? Ocean City, NJ was always a nice time away from campus, and I figured I might as well. We sat out, found a place to park, had a nice little walk around the beach, and decided which of the painted ladies we liked the best. Then, we headed over to the church. Outside, they were selling sarsparilla (like from the Old West), which should have been a sign. I hadn't ever had one that I could remember, and I figured I better try one. Then, we headed into the old church. It was huge. I'm pretty sure we were the youngest people there by a good 4 decades. I was taking it all in. I kept waiting for more people to come, and waiting, and waiting.
Out came the mummers from Philadelphia. It was quite a spectacle unfolding before us. Quite a gay old time, in the original sense of the term...we'll go with that. They were in their full marching band regalia and had their backs arched triumphantly, waving their batons in the air. But there was no band. They played a tape recording of the music. They also sang folky songs from the region that I hadn't heard of, like Cape May. And the guys pranced around, threading themselves through the pews of the church. The senior set was eating it up. Then, the mummers asked us all to join in a sort-of bizarre conga line. D and I declined. I was still trying to sort out what exactly was going on, and I still am. That walk was sort of etched in my mind, and I hadn't thought much about it, until I was walking like a mummer today <sans prancing and a baton>...