Now That's A Parade!

When you live in the country on a gravel road, you don't see much for traffic.  And when you do, you know nearly every vehicle that goes by and who is likely sitting behind the wheel.  If you don't recognize a vehicle or a driver/passenger, then you probably have a few questions - the first of which is "are they lost?"

So, it is a strange thing for the farmers to be somewhere different, where there are more vehicles passing by.  But, you can imagine exactly how odd it might be to have brightly lit vehicles with loud music (of all types, some Christmas, some not) go by not just once, but multiple times.

photo from 2019 Waimea parade

Well, that is exactly what happened last weekend in Kekaha.  Various members of the community put lights on trucks, trailers and whatever else they felt like towing around.  They hooked up music to loudspeakers for each float and one even featured a live band.  We both laughed pretty hard when the sewer/septic system truck rolled on by - well festooned with holiday decorations and lights.

The timing and the route just sort of "happened," with the parade taking a couple of streets more than once.  Members of the parade stayed in touch with friends in the community, letting them know where they were heading next so people could be on those streets to watch the parade go by.

It was clear that it wasn't planned in great detail.  And it was abundantly clear that there was a great deal of positive energy and a joyous spirit being shared by the participants on the floats as well as those who got to see them.

I am not a person who is big on parades.  But, this one had me smiling.  It felt right.

Now THAT'S a parade.

Mele Kalikimaka