No hike today; my car is still in the shop and we don’t want to put a lot of miles on Jan’s old (2005) car. I have been taking long walks every day but it is not the same.
Today I did have a bit of fun. I walked up to the town north of us, Mill Creek, to check out their Santa Parade. It was fun, fun, fun.
As you might expect, there were plenty of kids. And dogs. And festive spirits. There I was, alone in a crowd, but I was reaping the benefits of the upbeat crowd psychology.
It was definitely a small-town parade. There were no fancy floats, but there were plenty of kids associated with various local groups.
There were unicyclists:
Dancers:
Representatives of our closest southern neighbor:
And, of course, the Jolly Man himself:
I particularly enjoyed the drum section from a local high school. It brought back memories of my high school days when I was a drummer in the various school bands – orchestra, band, pep band and, most fun of all the marching band. The half time shows at the football games are still a highlight of my life.
Now, I am just an old retired man, more or less invisible as I drift through my little days. I can say that, during the parade, I was only crying most of the time.