In the Rain

As I watched the fair parade yesterday afternoon, it occurred to me that I stopped taking pictures of the parade many years ago. I think it was probably around the time Jake graduated high school. He was in the marching band throughout high school. But after that, there was nobody in the parade that I knew- or wanted to know. After that, at some level, the parade became one of those things that changed very little from year to year and it didn’t seem as interesting anymore.

When the kids were small, I would take pictures, but the pictures were more often of them enjoying the parade than of the parade itself. Sometimes there might have been a parade photo that one of the kids would really enjoy. I remember one year, when Rachael was a toddler, she was quite taken with someone dressed in a cow costume, who had been walking long, waving at the crowd. That picture went on the refrigerator. In the years following, one or two more pictures made it to the refrigerator, but most of them went into a photo album and later on, they went into a shoe box. Now I don’t take any at all.

There was something surreal about watching the parade this year. Maybe it was the rain. The vendors which usually roamed the crowds were nowhere to be seen- afraid, perhaps, that the rain would damage their highly valuable inventory of cheap bracelets and inflatable animals.

Brightly colored umbrellas lined the sides of the road and stood out against the grey sky backdrop. I stood and watched as the candy was thrown from passing floats- some of it splashing in the growing puddles on the edges along the edges of the road, some of it staying where it fell, where big men in little cars rode in circles- around and over it. Tow trucks and police cars and fire trucks filed by in slow motion- their flashing lights reflecting off of the wet pavement.

It almost had the feel of a dream and I wished that I had brought my camera. I stood there in the rain and watched, and I wondered how long it had been since I last bothered to bring it along.

The Weekend

I started to write a little bit about this past weekend, but it was turning into another one of those long, rambling, diary-like entries- giving a day by day rundown of who did what and where we were. So, I will spare you all of that. And anyway, it really just boiled down to how nice it was this past weekend- to see everybody and that we could all be together.

I'm pretty sure I've said that before- one or two times, at least.

A Very Brief Update

It turns out that "Ethel", mentioned in the previous post, is not "Ethel", but is really "Nicole". And it also turns out that even though she didn't eat any more than a bite of her lunch again yesterday, she ate better today.

Oh, and she likes to be called "Nicky"

First Day Back

Sam’s first day back to school went pretty well- especially considering that the night before he had been “feeling a little bit nervous”. I’m told that in his class of twenty or so kids, there is only one new person, a girl named Ethel. At least he thinks it’s Ethel. I’m also told that Ethel is pretty shy.

I told him that it must be pretty tough going into a classroom where everyone knows each other- except for you. I also mentioned that maybe she would feel better if she had a friend.

Later on, Sam told me that he looked over at Ethel during lunch and he “noticed that she only took one bite- and then she set it down and didn’t eat any more.”

We’re both hoping that Ethel will be feeling better tomorrow.

End of the Summer

In "celebration" of school starting tomorrow, we made our annual after dinner trip to get an ice cream cone. Neither Sam nor I are quite sure how long we've been doing this. We both think that it's been maybe four years now. This year we had company. Helaina took a little break from her homework and came along.

I don't have anything to say about this. It's just another one of those markers where I think, "Has it really been a year since we did this?" It all keeps flying by.

What's Sam Watching Today?

Late Night Music