Jour de l�amiti�
6:15 p.m.
Okay, it�s not that bad, really. I got my hair dyed but accidentally left it on too long, which didn�t hurt all that gray stuff sprouting from scalp, but sure left some ugly brown blotches on my forehead where I forgot to wipe it away. I managed somehow to get rid of the worst of it, and for the rest of the time I had a hat on anyway.
The parade was particularly boring: no pipers, no recycling truck, no fire engines. There were two marching bands, both terrible, plus floats made by the Christian Youth, St. George�s Sunday School and the United Church, so there was no lack of religious representation, just a little one-sided. The Royal Bank had it�s usual mascot and banner paraded along, and (a new one) Curves, the ladies� health club, had a contingent, and a friend of mine who goes there got sucked into handing out free magazines promoting the organization. She was very funny, saying, �I have to do this, but it�s all bullshit.� I made a mistake earlier as there are no llama farmers in the area. But there is an alpaca farm, and two of these cute, fluffy creatures were led docilely along by their owners. I don�t know how docile they would be normally, since they had leashes on that totally kept their maws tight shut. Perhaps there is a danger of spooked alpacas spitting at small children who want to pat them. They are beautiful.
The Shriners had come up from St. Johnsbury, Vermont with their cute little cars and were the most entertaining participants in the parade. I think they were also having the most fun. The horses pooping were also very entertaining, especially to the children in front of us. I did notice that the horses who followed were very careful not to step in the ungawa, even the huge-hoofed Clydesdales.
We adjourned to the parking lot outside B1ack Cat, where the porch was turned into a stage and three guys with guitars were doing their thing. One of them is a tennis/squash buddy of Hubby�s, and he invited me to come up and sing with them, so I did Proud Mary and sang along with Todd on the choruses of the songs I knew the words to. Amazingly, I once knew the words to a bazillion folk and other songs, and now I remember hardly any at all. Crazy. Jenn and Mark joined us and we all had a rip roaring good time until they decided to go off to The Lion for beer and we decided to go home for lunch�and other stuff, seeing as how there were no kids at home.
We got to the United Church in time for Buddy Boy�s play, a retelling of the three little pigs story, with the r�les of good and bad guys reversed. There were tons of little kids in the audience, and they made lots of noise, which was a bother. I also think the play itself was a little beyond them, aimed more at their parents. Buddy Boy did well, though, improvising a Highland fling at one point while Struan (in a Little Red Riding Hood costume) played bagpipes.
Afterwards Hubby and I mosied into the school auditorium where the crafts had been set up, only to find that most of them had already packed their wares. The tissage lady was still there, though, and we had a nice chat and I came away with three new dishcloths. The tie lady was also still there, and we bought cute ties for the July birthday party. I also found a sweet one for my brother the ham-radio enthusiast, printed with transistors and circuit boards.
Now we�re home, I�ve all but completed the Saturday New York Times crossword puzzle (it�s a killer, this one) and since we�ve had a snack neither one of us is hungry. Tonight I must go to the fireworks display, the one thing I live for (I�m such a kid) all year, and nothing, not anything, is going to get in my way. So there!
<~~~ * ~~~>
