In honor of the day: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZfRaWAtBVg
Today I went to the Ames Fourth of July Parade, and was witness to lots of candy throwing and, MORE IMPORTANTLY, the senior citizens coalition (or whatever they call themselves) came through dressed as roosters (red rubber glove combs, yellow paper beaks, and white plastic table cloth cloaks), holding signs saying "no more chicken noodle soup."
I think you'll agree that this sight was the highlight of the parade, clearly superior to the various gymnasts, the Miss. Rose Bowl Queen Pagent Car, and the sewage pump truck. The only close second place runner up was the high school drum corps, who I thought actually rocked a whole hell of a lot.
Unfortunetly, no shriners.
I have never seen these shriners, but my housemate told me about them. She said they were old men in funny hats riding around on tiny motorcycles. Clearly this is worthwhile. I dont' think we have these people in Baltimore. We have greeks in Baltimore, who dress their middle schoolers up in blue and white petifores and do dances in circles. We also tend to have large bands full of bag pipes, and frequently those bagpipers are old men in kilts. I'm ok with this.
Other things I'm ok with: The old people channel. Sometime this afternoon the old people channel had a whole show about trains--not really ABOUT trains (because that would be too complicated) but merely showing the trains coming and going at different junctions along a route somewhere in Nevada. Sometimes we were told what the train was carrying. The trains started off going through snow but towards the end of the program they progressed into spring. I think this is a worthwhile use of air time.
Today I visited the house I'm going to be moving into in august. I'm a little nervous--it doesn't really feel like my house yet. But I'll be able to do a lot of rearranging of the bookshelves, and I'll add more plants and I'll put my pictures up in various places, so that will be good. This house has a beautiful backyard, with trumpet vines (!!!) climbing up the garage, and lilies and a magnolia tree, and a screened in porch. I'm pretty sure it's going to be heavenly. The cats are going to love it, no doubt.
Happy fourth!
