I LOVE A PARADE

      Lucky me.  I've seen four parades in three weeks. I already wrote about twerking zombies in the "Keep Austin Weird" event. 
    I got see two parades on the Fourth of July! The first took place in La Selva Beach, a tiny town on California's Monterrey Bay.
   Their parade was tiny too, the right size for an intimate, kid-friendly procession.
Just twenty minutes long, it reminded me of the early King Mango Struts, a simple pedestrian affair that probably cost a hundred bucks to produce.

    It started off with a couple of flag waving Boy Scouts. and older fellas playing rock n' roll on the back of a truck.

    This parade was owned by kids and the youngest generation had a blast on Tuesday.

 A few adults strutted their stuff like these librarians pushing book trucks. Our stale Grove parade could ideas like this!

 What creativity!  Cardboard turned the golf cart below into a surfboard-totin' Love Bus.

  
   The "Pets on Parade"
group featured 8 dogs, three
sheep, two llamas, and one small girl.

 A birthday cake as big as America

Some people skipped the decorations and just joined in.









Lady Liberty showing her sister how to hold a torch.

 This man serenaded  us with his tiny French coronet. Another blew a conch shell.  It seemed like anyone who wanted to strut their stuff, could.

    Isn't strange that small towners have more fun than the rest of us on the Fourth of July?  

La Selva had planned events from 10 a.m 'til 9 p.m.   While Coconut Grove had three activities    ( a park picnic, a shopping mall hot dog contest, and fireworks), this town of three thousand had twelve ending in spectacular sky explosions. 

   At one point we came upon a group of kids who seemed to be burying their faces in the dirt. We soon learned they were seeing who could eat watermelon the fastest without using their hands.

The only adult in the competition cheated (note the hidden hand and the embarrassed daughter) but, he lost anyway.

  In the late afternoon we wandered down to the beach for the sand castle competition.

 These two were as formidable as any castle.

   The pirates' fortress won but there were millions of winners on the Fourth of July. 

   They were the people lucky enough to live in communities like La Selva Beach. On days like this everyone can come together to laugh, enjoy each other, and feel proud of the Star-Spangled Banner.
    I hope you were one of them.
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Note: I'm in California for a month. I will be writing about two more parades in the next week.
King Mango's best friend,
Glenn 
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The moment he realized he had won.

 

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