Happy Birthday America!!!

OK, OK so this is one day late, so sue me. I did intend to post this on the appropriate day but we had company for dinner and then time got away from me and we ALL know that my old "little gray cells" don't function so well in the evening. So here is the 4th of July on the 5th of July. Oh trend setter I.

Oh I love living in a small town. The Fourth of July Parade is a slice of life I can tell you. It doesn't really change from year to year. We have our little rituals that we do the same every year. This year was a tad different because Progeny #1 (the Cartoonist) was not here to go early with me to save our favorite seats. We always leave the house around 10a to get up there and set the blanket down in the choice area in front of the library. Shade, perfect view.

But wait!!! Why are there so many in "my" spot. I mean it is 10:15a and no one is usually here at that time except us few overly competitive eager people who can hardly wait for the parade. Rats, I had to walk about 100 feet further down the road to an OK but not great spot.

Of course, once I am settled into my seat, right at the edge of the road so that I can have the pleasure of having the wind in my hair and dirt particles in my eyes as the semis blow past me, I get out the old knitting. There is never a time when knitting isn't appropriate. It saved my sanity during the commencement speaker for Progeny #1's college graduation. And this is a sock of Socks for Soldiers so it was entirely appropriate to be knitting. And also, I can knit and not look at the knitting so I can watch what is going on around me. It was while I was doing this that I realized....Hey, I can hear the marching bands playing. That is strange because it is only 10:45a and the parade doesn't start until noon....at least that is always the way it has been before. So I ask the people sitting next to me if the parade time has been changed. To my horror they tell me that the parade starts at 11a this year and not noon like EVERY OTHER YEAR..........Uh Oh.........
So, I get on the cell phone and call the DH and say, "Get your butt down here NOW cuz the parade is starting in 10 minutes and I don't want to stand here by myself on this huge blanket looking like someone without friends." Well, that isn't what I really said but it was what I was thinking.
Thank goodness, they made it. They came walking right ahead of the parade. Sort of like the unofficial Grand Marshals of the parade.....or not.
All the little kids (OK some big kids too) come armed with some sort of bag to hold all their candy. Yes, our parade throws candy at the kids, lots of candy. We are a dentists dream town. I don't care about any of the hard candy, I usually hand that to which ever kid is available. BUT, don't get in the way of my Tootsie Rolls. Those are MINE, MINE I tell you......Oh, uh, where was I? At any rate. I also don't know quite what the fashion statement was that this little girl was going for. Perhaps the old, "I just got up in time for the parade and put on what was available" look.
First come the firetrucks.....with all their sirens blaring. Oh who REALLY needs good hearing anyways.
Then there comes the mayor with a BIG bag of candy. Is this legal? Does giving candy out constitute bribery? Who cares as long as he has Tootsie Rolls. Besides, I am now deaf from the fire engines so if he is doing any campaigning I can't hear him anyways.
Of course, the local high school marching band participates. Gone are the days when you wore the WHOLE band outfit that was always made of nice, thick wool suitable for marching in the inclement weather in the fall (can you guess that I was in the marching band). Now these kids wear tee shirts, shorts and white tennis shoes. Um, it looks like SOMEONE didn't get the memo about the shoes.OH yeah, these girls really look like they are into the whole parade thing don't they.
And then there are the bag pipes. Oh I love the bagpipes. What! You don't like bagpipes? These guys are good. But then, they actually know how to play the bagpipes and have practiced, out of ear shot of anyone, for a long time. My Aunt Sue decided that she needed to learn to play bagpipes one of the years that she lived with us during her college days. It was a painful experience for all of us. She was first banished to the basement concrete room. But we could still hear her. So then it was out to the garage, hoping that the neighbors didn't call the police. FINALLY she quit. But I still love bagpipes!

There are tons of things on leashes. It might be a horse, it might be a dog.............
or it might be a child. You never know. What you can't see is that mom had the kid on one leash and the dog on the other.

Oh, I love the 4th of July parade. I am sad to see it go. I am glad that I got Tootsie Rolls in abundance. And I am glad that for once we didn't get rained on. It is the little joys in life.