05 December 2009

Advent Day 5

"Attend the Santa Parade @ 4 pm"

Here's where I put the fix in on the ol' Advent Calendar - Santa Parade was scheduled for December 5th so I deliberately put this item in Day 5's bag. Sue me, gods of chance, I wanted to see a parade.
It doesn't get cold too often here in North Carolina but today was rainy, sleety and 40 degrees with truly shivery Northern winds. But we bundled up and headed out:

Perfect for standing outside with a small child for an hour. Scratch that - a small child who turned out to be TERRIFIED of sirens and honking garbage trucks and clung to me like a monkey-baby the entire time.

I often find it really hard to live in a small town - 2.5 years later and I'm still not acclimatised. But there is something about rolling up to Main Street, standing next to your neighbor and cheering wildly for the high school marching band:



or watching with tears in my eyes - yes, the Atheist! - as a group of African-American men walk proudly together in dark suits and red ties chanting about their love of the Lord



because this town is old and it has a history, the kind of history I could never have touched in Canada or even the PNW, and for a moment, on the curb, I'm part of it too

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