Mark had to work today, so Miah and I drove alone to Monument this morning. So did everyone else. But I'm grateful that the small hub of Monument opened its streets for all of us to enjoy the two hour parade.
It's been years, a little over ten, since I've been to a parade, and we arrived woefully unprepared to stand that long and to fight for a view. That's partly my fault for not rousing myself out of bed in time to arrive early. The generosity of people is amazing. We were offered a chair, an umbrella, sunscreen, and a bottle of water from the families standing around us. How did we come across as looking needy when we weren't?
Our parade began with a bang. Miah shuddered at the booms of black powder muskets fired off by the Mountain Men. These guys were wonderful as they beckoned for brave boys and timid women from the crowd to come pull the trigger. They were followed by our Civil War reenactment group who saluted with fire as well. The crowd began to settle into their seats just as the colors came around the bend, so everyone stood back up again. It was like this throughout the parade. You can imagine the numbers of veteran and military groups represented in a parade just miles from three or four bases as well as the Air Force Academy. We also waved at pageant queens, politicians, riding clubs, bands, church groups, clowns, color guards, local business floats, llamas, cheerleaders, and more. The Tea Party group took up almost half a block, the second largest group, and were met mostly with cheers. Hooray!
In those two hours the sun glared at us, the clouds spat at us, the weather forecast changed from partly cloudy to dangerous thunderstorms, and finished with a pleasant sunshine. We came home just in time for the heavens to let loose.
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