Yankee Doodle Me

  "Equal and Opposite Reactions"
                By Patti Liszkay
               Buy it on Amazon
            http://amzn.to/2xvcgRa

"It's Hallmark meets the Sopranos in this fun and engaging read."
"Lots of sass, drama and wicked humor."
"The characters were hilariously and perfectly flawed."
"Cleverly plotted and exceptionally well written... part drama and part slapstick comedy."
 "Funny and thought provoking and entertaining!"
"A rollicking good yarn."
     -Amazon reviews

         Last Wednesday, the 4th of July, I did something I hadn't done in 57 years:       I participated  in a 4th of July parade.

      In truth, once I outgrew the thrill of entwining the spokes of my bike with red, white and blue crepe paper on July 4th and parading with all the other kids on their patriotically papered bikes through our  Northeast Philadelphia neighborhood, I subsequently lost interest in parades in general.
      The  view from the front yard of my old house,  

     I don't believe I've been to a July 4th  parade, either as a participant or spectator since my children were young enough to care about swooping up the candy that it is de rigueur  in these parts for marchers and float-riders to toss at the crowds as they pass by.

    However this year I received word from the  Gahanna Area Arts Council (See post from 3/5/2018), that they were looking for folks to represent in Gahanna's 4th of July parade and hand out flyers for the upcoming Arts  in the Alley event,

...which I had, in fact, made a Facebook ad for:

     So I figured, eh, sure, I can march in the parade and promote the arts in Gahanna, especially since the Scoutmaster would likewise be in the parade with his cub scout den on the float that they'd made in our garage.

      So on the morning of July 4th I decked myself out in the most artily patriotic trappings I could find in my closet: a pair of red scrub pants that my daughter Theresa gave me (because, according to Theresa, scrubs are the most comfortable pants on the planet and so I should have a pair);

...Theresa, here with her wife Callie,

... the blue moisture-wicking shirt I haven't worn since I walked the 497-mile Camino de Santiago de Compostela a couple of years ago (see www.and lightenyourpack.com);
​...me in my blue shirt, trying to ward off gnats on the Spanish Meseta on the Camino;

...a sleeveless white blouse over the blue shirt and my royal blue tennis shoes with the turquoise laces.
       I then walked the mile from my house to the parade staging area,

​...and sought out the Gahanna Area Arts Council group,

...only to find, surprisingly and somewhat embarrassingly, that I was dressed 'way artier than anybody else in the arts groups.

    However, there were plenty of other paraders rocking the red, white and blue.

   In any case, the colors were well-represented  in all the floats, vehicles, and marching groups as we lined up in the parking lot then waited for our turn to enter the street and join the parade.

    Tom's cub scout den, looking forward to water-spraying the crowd.

   When it was our turn we Gahanna Area Arts Council marchers headed out,

...and joined the parade.

     Though by the time we joined the parade, around 11 am, the temperature was close to 90 degrees, still the street of our suburb was lined with hundreds of spectators,

...who were more than happy to be water-sprayed by the cub scouts and soccer teams who gleefully sprayed the crowd as their floats passed by.

      Though for me the biggest treat as I marched and handed out my flyers was watching  the children as they scrambled to gather up the candy tossed from the floats and by the marchers,

...just seeing the crowd gathered here together,

...in a peaceful celebration,

...of our beautiful, diverse nation,

...left me with a warm, 4th-of-July feeling and gratitude for being here among this crowd of my fellow Americans on this day.

    After the mile-long parade walk, feeling dehydrated and heat-prostrated, Tom and I stopped at the Gahanna Grill (open, thankfully, on the holiday) for some nourishment and hydration.

​     Happy 9th of July, everyone!