"Wave the flags that the robots made..."

A year ago I was at an African Art conference in Athens (Ohio...), and missed all but the 7:00 a.m. warm-ups for the big annual holiday parade down Main Street. This year, though, I caught not only warm-ups, as I made my way through a festive traffic jam to pick up soy milk, but the parade itself.

My camera ended up being out of batteries, so I have very few pictures, but nothing digital could capture the splendor that is B.G.'s holiday parade. Shiny marching bands, guys in formation on riding lawnmowers, girls in sparkly suits, a trailerload of waving "sugar plum" children followed by a motley band of parents--it was amazing!

The neighbors came out, too, even most of the loud boys from downstairs, bleary-eyed and wrapped in blankets. They said there had been yelling and pounding of walls in their house when the warm-ups started, as each assumed the others were playing the stereo. I got to chat with Fred, who couldn't believe I hadn't heard about the big OSU-Michigan game, and Becky, who was driving home to enjoy said event with her family.

I realized, somewhere amidst the booming percussion, flying handfuls of candy, and glittery outfits, that I had never actually seen a live parade. Standing in front of our house on Main, chatting with my neighbors under a cloudless sky, I couldn't imagine a better first time.