The Easter Parade

For a lovely spring day here is a true story from past times. Sit back and enjoy.

In my town, there is a tradition to gather on the street of monuments to dead Confederate generals and walk about. Don’t remember when it started but I think it was one of those ideas and everyone joined in. It was basically a block party that got big.

So every year about this time, the streets are blocked off and people come from far and wide to walk the cobblestones wearing their pastel finery associated with the season.

There is no religious affiliation or special agenda, just folks getting together and sharing a day in the sunshine. Bands will play on front porches, balloons and cotton candy and photographers delight with spring bonnets and other accoutrements relating to the southern gentile way of living. Baby buggies, dogs and the occasional horse drawn buggy would slowly move up and down the streets watched over by a general sitting on his horse. It is a peaceful afternoon to see and be seen.

The first I remember viewing from a friends porch along the street. We stood above the masses like emperors watching the slowest 10k race ever.

Well as the story goes, some years later, my wife decided it was time to take our puppy to participate in the parade. At the appointed time, she was leased up and provisions packed for the two and a half mine journey.

If you have ever walked a dog you know it is not just a trot down the road but a start and stop affair. Every bush and sign and wall holds pertinent information that we humans cannot understand but our four legged friends absorb like the Twitter.

The day was a spring feeling day, not too hot, and not too cold and plenty of sun. Our pup had not traveled this far before so we took additional stops. Not in a hurry we walked familiar paths down the lane I would walk to school and then to another school deeper in the city.

We crossed her first ever bridge and she did fine. Did I tell you she was the best dog in the world? If not, you will hear it again and again.

Along the way I noticed a guy taking down a front porch and thought “I’m glad I’m not doing that”. Later I realized what that porch had been to me.

A left and then a right and another left and we had arrived at the masses. Wide sidewalks and no traffic allowed pairs or groups to wander at their own pace without pressure. In the center was a grassy knoll to leave the foot traffic and rest. The free parade is a slow moving mass of mostly white folk celebrating spring with flowers in their hair.

I forgot whether we dressed up our pup with some flowers on the lease but she would have certainly accepted it. She got along with everyone and met a few new friends. She was the best girl in the world. Still after a lap around the track, it was time to pack up and start back.

Once away from the crowds, it was time to recharge. We stopped at a corner store and got some snacks and sodas and the owner noticed our dog. He filled a bowl with water and placed it in front for her to lap up refreshment. We all stood and watched her regain her energy with the tail wagging. I asked him what I could pay for the service and he waved it off as just a good deed. I slipped a $10 under the bowl and we started back home knowing there are good people in the world.

There was not as much interest in the smells but more of a want to get home as the sun was setting. After some time, the front door was open and our parade to the parade was over.

After a quick ride to the store I returned to two sleeping girls on the bed quiet satisfied in a grand experience for both. There were no selfies or videos of the occasion but the memory lives on.

Today was another parade, on the same street that so many carrying battle flags and spouting proclamations of a lost cause, will have old faces tracing their familiar steps and new faces will have the privilege to be entertained in good fellowship and humanitarian joy.

Enjoy.