I volunteered M and I to march with TNT in the Royal Oak St. Patrick's Day Parade. Well, I actually volunteered M on the unicycle - if he gets to ride/show off, he will pretty much do whatever I want. You see, it was a beautiful spring-like day when I decided to do this. We woke to a rather gloomy, overcast sky with a threat of rain. We got all fancied up in our TNT green and purple. Not so sure why I was worried about my outfit - the big, puffy down coat pretty much made it a moot point.
As we drove there: oh no, is that a drop. As we walked to the parking lot, those little sprinkles were a regular old shower. The slightly sideways kind that renders an umbrella just for show. We looked around, but no TNT people. We looked some more, no TNT people. My pink cowboy hat, complete with tiara, was getting damp. There were quite a lot of other damp groups, including a whole lot of puppies for the fancy dog accessory store and cheerleaders with green faces and green hair - soon to be green all over. Apparently cheerleaders don't use umbrellas or wear coats. All I could think was - hey, that is going to be just awful to wash off and you really look cold. Am I getting old or what...?
Just as we decided that maybe our group was smart and had stayed home, a voice was calling my name. Oh look, wet TNT people. We ended up being a group of nine. Huddled in a little circle, waiting to go. When the parade did start, no one went in order, with the political candidate groups taking the biggest cuts. Uh huh! Do gooders that we were, trying to wait our turn, we ended up last except for the fire trucks. Turns out, the parade went about three blocks, turned down a side street and that was all she wrote. No, not me, some other she. I'll write more.
This was a decent sized parade. I would guess there was a 4 to 1 ratio of people in the parade vs. watching. But those that did brave the cold and wet sure got some candy. The kids had trick or treat bags ready by the time we reached them. I was just giving it to them - the throwing often involved a puddle. But we did hand out some (wet) TNT brochures and I had a fabulous time. I've got to admit, I love a parade.
