Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Fourth of July, 2007 in Novato, CA
This nearly-retired inspector participated in the quintessential Norman Rockwell experience today. Remember how I waxed patriotic about the USMC and the Iwo Jima Memorial? Well, this was a lot like that, except I was part of the performance.
We met at Perry's Deli in Novato. Our ensign and drummer (Isaias and Ramiro) own and run the deli. We were joined by their brother Eddie, Patrick, Large William, his wife Tracy and their exceedingly cute baby Jaina, Bill and his two sons Dave and Josh, Dave aka "Thorne" of ECW fame, Tracy's friend Autumn, and your humble correspondent, moi.
We checked our kit, then strolled to the meeting place near one end of Novato. Since we were number 188 in the parade, we got to see most of the other entries ahead of us. We saw lots of what you'd expect to see in a Norman Rockwell setting- little girl gymnasts, little boy karate students, bigger girls on horseback, ROTC groups, numerous WWII tanks, trucks and vets. Like the country, the parade has evolved a bit- this year there was a great Mariachi group doing folk dances from Jalisco and a flatbed truck with a pretty good garage band, The 15th Hour. But the whole thing was about being together, being American, and being proud to be patriotic. Sure, the abstract parts about democracy and the Founding Fathers philosophy of government were in short supply, but what was abundant was the sense of being one country, one nation, one people. This was the nuts-and-bolts of Americanism, not the nit-picking legal shenanigans. Should we eliminate the nit-picking? No way! But today wasn't for anything but the good part of being American! Today was for marching in the sun, for waving to everyone on the sidewalk, and for appreciating what we have as Americans!
People wearing little American flags in their hair and on their T-shirts applauded and waved to us along the route. You know these parades start and stop, right? Well, I slipped into a kind of baggage interview mode. We were ten feet away from lots of people sitting in chairs on the sidewalk. Two ladies in their 80's were watching us, so I accosted them, demanding in a very loud voice to see the written permission slips from their parents because I was not convinced they were old enough to be unescorted, yadda yadda. I tell ya, flirting with old ladies can be fun. I tried to recruit a couple of children, asking the girls if they knew how to wash clothes in a river by slapping the vestments on a rock and telling the boys they could join us and go to the front of the line, where they could see better. One guy had a large mad-hatter kind of hat that looked like an American flag- I gave him a special wave and told him he had a great hat.
We stopped a minute, so I commanded our halberdiers to face to the outside and charge halberds. We took a menacing step or two, then I told the halberdiers that these were not the enemy, so please refrain from killing anyone today. I think our group made it onto a few hundred videos and photos along the way. Another lady saw the sharp points on the halberds and asked if they could hurt. I replied that they sure could, but we wouldn't hurt her.
Our musketeers loaded on the march and fired a few times, getting everyone's attention with the "Bang!" and the smoke of black powder. We had a good drummer and a fife player, both of which combined to make a very martial air for our unit. And this year we had two large dogs marching with us.
The parade ran something over a mile, giving us plenty of time and opportunity to alternately march and play with the audience. We finished the route, then strolled along the sidewalk watching a few more entries back to the deli.
Richie recounts that he was very impressed by "a California moment," namely when a Chinese dance group came by playing "Stars and Stripes Forever" on drums and glockenspiel. Richie noted that this was very much a California moment because it was a group of Chinese folks playing American music on German instruments, the music being written by a Portuguese guy, John Philip Sousa.
We rendezvoused back at the deli and I came home with my older son Richie and his girlfriend, Kimberley Martin and barbecued, but that's another "I can't believe I ate the whole thing" story.
We met at Perry's Deli in Novato. Our ensign and drummer (Isaias and Ramiro) own and run the deli. We were joined by their brother Eddie, Patrick, Large William, his wife Tracy and their exceedingly cute baby Jaina, Bill and his two sons Dave and Josh, Dave aka "Thorne" of ECW fame, Tracy's friend Autumn, and your humble correspondent, moi.
We checked our kit, then strolled to the meeting place near one end of Novato. Since we were number 188 in the parade, we got to see most of the other entries ahead of us. We saw lots of what you'd expect to see in a Norman Rockwell setting- little girl gymnasts, little boy karate students, bigger girls on horseback, ROTC groups, numerous WWII tanks, trucks and vets. Like the country, the parade has evolved a bit- this year there was a great Mariachi group doing folk dances from Jalisco and a flatbed truck with a pretty good garage band, The 15th Hour. But the whole thing was about being together, being American, and being proud to be patriotic. Sure, the abstract parts about democracy and the Founding Fathers philosophy of government were in short supply, but what was abundant was the sense of being one country, one nation, one people. This was the nuts-and-bolts of Americanism, not the nit-picking legal shenanigans. Should we eliminate the nit-picking? No way! But today wasn't for anything but the good part of being American! Today was for marching in the sun, for waving to everyone on the sidewalk, and for appreciating what we have as Americans!
People wearing little American flags in their hair and on their T-shirts applauded and waved to us along the route. You know these parades start and stop, right? Well, I slipped into a kind of baggage interview mode. We were ten feet away from lots of people sitting in chairs on the sidewalk. Two ladies in their 80's were watching us, so I accosted them, demanding in a very loud voice to see the written permission slips from their parents because I was not convinced they were old enough to be unescorted, yadda yadda. I tell ya, flirting with old ladies can be fun. I tried to recruit a couple of children, asking the girls if they knew how to wash clothes in a river by slapping the vestments on a rock and telling the boys they could join us and go to the front of the line, where they could see better. One guy had a large mad-hatter kind of hat that looked like an American flag- I gave him a special wave and told him he had a great hat.
We stopped a minute, so I commanded our halberdiers to face to the outside and charge halberds. We took a menacing step or two, then I told the halberdiers that these were not the enemy, so please refrain from killing anyone today. I think our group made it onto a few hundred videos and photos along the way. Another lady saw the sharp points on the halberds and asked if they could hurt. I replied that they sure could, but we wouldn't hurt her.
Our musketeers loaded on the march and fired a few times, getting everyone's attention with the "Bang!" and the smoke of black powder. We had a good drummer and a fife player, both of which combined to make a very martial air for our unit. And this year we had two large dogs marching with us.
The parade ran something over a mile, giving us plenty of time and opportunity to alternately march and play with the audience. We finished the route, then strolled along the sidewalk watching a few more entries back to the deli.
Richie recounts that he was very impressed by "a California moment," namely when a Chinese dance group came by playing "Stars and Stripes Forever" on drums and glockenspiel. Richie noted that this was very much a California moment because it was a group of Chinese folks playing American music on German instruments, the music being written by a Portuguese guy, John Philip Sousa.
We rendezvoused back at the deli and I came home with my older son Richie and his girlfriend, Kimberley Martin and barbecued, but that's another "I can't believe I ate the whole thing" story.
# posted by rich @ 8:30 AM 
