I Love a Parade

And I loved this float most of all. We took our house guests over to Lowell, a city I spend far too little time in, to wander around and see the sights. After a browse through an art show and a visit to the Boott Mills exhibit in the National Park we made our way over to the sidewalk for the "City of Lights" holiday kick off parade. I can get pretty cynical about this stuff - the kick off to holiday shopping and more cheap s**t from China, but the local artisans and shopkeepers were all hopeful that we might spend some of our hard earned dollars locally. (They would be right of course) And to sweeten the deal they threw in a parade with marching bands from several high schools, girls scouts and boy scouts galore and the emergency services vehicles - police, fire and EMS and this. Part apology, part challenge, part plea on behalf of the snow plow operators. Sorry, plow people. I DO take it personally. When I've shoveled and labored over piles of snow at the top of my driveway and you come along and fill it back in? After hours? Not take it personally? Not a chance. (Especially when I've seen the plow trucks taking their break at the local pub. . .) Lift the plow and we'll have a merry Christmas and a happy New Year.