Written by Okay. Maybe not my parade. But A parade, definitely. Yesterday, I got (quite honestly) dragged to the Rose Festival’s Grand Floral Parade. It was fun, don’t get me wrong, but I like to sleep in on Saturdays. Crazy idea, I know.
Anyway. We (Mum, Opus and I) set up on Broadway and Washington in the middle of the crosswalk:
(I brought some parade knitting)
And, despite the roads all being closed and people crossing wherever they felt like it, I was certain for the first hour or so that one of the cops was going to ask us to move. I took over 100 photos, most of which at someone else’s request. Crowd (and personal) favorites would have to have been:
The African band and “kinetic sculptures” (oh, yeah, I worked that in)
Uncle Sam
A trio of interpretive peacocks
who were also quite inquisitive
the Color Guard from our sister city’s (Kaoshiung) marching band
A llama-drawn carriage
Sasquatch
The Calgary Stampede (complete with synchronized horses, etc) straight from Canada
Aannd, saving the best for last just for you Xa:
A pirate float
At some point during all this, it started to rain. True Oregonians either: a) ignored it or b) pulled up their hoods or hats. Mum and I, being East Coast bred, pulled out an umbrella:
Me? I prefer to stay dry. I could feel Opus rolling her eyes at me, though. Pfft to her. I have to go to work in half an hour, but wanted to post this before I forgot why I took half the pictures here.
That float rocks my face off! The most exciting thing I did yesterday was help move wet stuff out of my parents’ basement, thanks to the monsoons we’ve been having.
Kilts!! Yay!