I love a parade (and other notes from a good weekend)

| On
Monday, June 12, 2006


I know it's cheesy and kind of dorky but I do love a parade. Saturday was the Grand Floral Parade -- the showpiece of Portland's annual Rose Festival. (speaking of dorky, I personally have nothing on the city itself which 1) is home to creatures known as Royal Rosarians who wear straw boaters, white gloves, summer weight cream wool suits, half CAPES, and are "ambassadors to the city" 2) claims to turn into the mythical realm of ROSARIA which is then ruled over by a girl from a local high school (and has been since the late 1800's). I don't think she can enact any legislation, though. she's more of a ribbon cutter and parade waver.)

It didn't even rain! Bec, Leslie and I have been meeting up to watch the parade for the past few years (which also corresponds to how many years we've been volunteering to help decorate floats.) We meet at the Slacker End of the parade, which is the best parade plan of all time! That sleeping on the sidewalk for a good spot nonsense is for SUCKERS. If you go to the end of the parade route you can sleep in, find easier parking, and traffic is better when it's time to go because everyone else has already gone! (caveat: if you go to the Slacker End, don't go to the VERY END. If it is a hot day, all of the marching bands will be So Finished and sometimes the floats jump the curb on that last corner which causes a lot of distracting screaming.)

I have to say, my favorite thing about the parade is probably marching bands. As a new generation of band directors comes of age, I'm finding there is a lot more AC/DC and KISS than one might expect, which is kind of fun in that "is that? Yeah, I think so!" way. I also have a soft spot for the equestrian entries -- not so much the rodeo princesses but the draft horses, the dancing horses, etc. The parade has a certain timeless quality that I enjoy. People have been parading around for thousands of years, and I take a little comfort that we are doing it still. For some reason the flag corps (or whatever you call the girls in generally unfortunate uniforms who twirl flags in front of or behind the marching band) really put me in mind of medieval tournaments. It's spectacle, it's cheeseball, it's local and universal all at once. It's wonderful.

The rest of the weekend was also great for many reasons, not least of which was finding this sober, subtle and discreet fabric which I am going to turn into a skirt. The sun was shining (alas, it is raining today), there were popsicles in the freezer, good music on the stereo, a good book in my hand, I got to spend time with friends, and even got just a tiny bit of color from the sun. (I was wearing sunscreen!) All in all a thoroughly pleasant way to pass a weekend in June.
6 comments on "I love a parade (and other notes from a good weekend)"
  1. Wow! I love that fabric!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I know! Isn't it crazy? I am not so fond of the gold, but it wasn't enough to keep me away from it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I think you should make me an ascot out of that FABOO fabric, don't you? I like it very much. I can't wait to see you in it. Or it on you? Whatever. You get the drift. I missed the parade but I think that I would like to decorate a float again next year. Sound good?

    ReplyDelete
  4. An ascot, huh? I think they are poised for a comeback!! But don't you worry that it will be a little, I don't know, Fred from Scooby Doo? (not that there's anything WRONG with that!)

    Yes, I think you should definitely decorate floats next year.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Float decorating will be the "pot of gold" at the end of this years rainbow...if that makes any sense. I think it is fun as long as I remember to NOT sniff the glue. It is pretty toxic, and not all Britney style toxic either. Ascot's in theory sound good but I am not sure if I am old enough to pull it off. Maybe in like 7 or 8 weeks I will be of that "certain" age...

    ReplyDelete
  6. I loves me some Louie Louie!
    Guess what? The Farmer's market WAS happening at the time we were looking! It had been moved further South due to the parade festivities!

    ReplyDelete

EMOTICON
Klik the button below to show emoticons and the its code
Hide Emoticon
Show Emoticon
:D
 
:)
 
:h
 
:a
 
:e
 
:f
 
:p
 
:v
 
:i
 
:j
 
:k
 
:(
 
:c
 
:n
 
:z
 
:g
 
:q
 
:r
 
:s
:t
 
:o
 
:x
 
:w
 
:m
 
:y
 
:b
 
:1
 
:2
 
:3
 
:4
 
:5
:6
 
:7
 
:8
 
:9