They cancelled our July 4 parade
So...we made our own
To prepare for our town July 4th parade, I purchased five pounds of what we once called “penny candy,” two large bags that included — but were not limited to — Now and Laters, Laffy Taffy, and the random Dubble Bubble.
And then I set about watching the weather forecast, which wasn’t promising.
July 4th dawned — sort of — foggy and rainy and by about 9 a.m., the parade organizers called it. I understood entirely. It was a lose-lose situation. If the organizers cracked on, the weather would get worse. If they called it off, the sun would burst through the clouds.
And that’s exactly what happened. The parade was cancelled, and the sun burst from the clouds but oh-well. I was contemplating my bag of candy (and thought that maybe I would just drive through town tossing candy out the window — you’re welcome, America!).
We’d walked outside and we heard a commotion down on the town green and through the trees, we saw a tractor drive by pulling a float.
The parade was a go! The tractor came up and then by my house, full of kids and grownups shouting, “Happy birthday,” so I tossed fistfuls of candy onto the float and then we jumped in the truck and followed behind.
I did not know the tractor driver or any of the people on the float but for a moment, we were one small and happy caravan.
I’d been told not to throw the candy at the children (fear of putting an eye out?) but in this case, well, we’d gone rogue, so I tossed the candy freely.
We ended up at the town green — minus the crowds and the opera singer we’d been promised to sing the National Anthem. I kept handing out candy to random children until the parents shooed me away.
I still have about two pounds of penny candy left, and I just might name a holiday in the recent future, and have at it.
The first 4th of July after my divorce I went to cape cod with my daughter who was 11 at the time
We camped in North Truro and we decided to go to the parade in Ptown
As we were standing on the sidewalk watching the parade go by I could see a fire engine coming down the road and they were throwing what I assumed was candy from the truck
As the truck passed my daughter bent down to pickup some contraband from the ground when she asked me , what’s this??
And so it was on the sidewalk of Ptown during a 4th of July parade that I explained to my 11 year old daughter what a prophylactic was
She asked me why they would throw it from the fire engine and I told her that maybe they figured fewer people meant fewer fires
She asked me if I wanted it and I said sure , I’ll take it
She asked me what I was going to do with it and I shrugged and said, I don’t know , maybe make a water balloon
She said , you can do that??
I said yup , as soon as we get back to the camp ground
It was a weekend of firsts for her
Her first time at the cape
Her first time making s’mores at a campfire on the beach
Her first time meeting a bearded lady
And her first time making a prophylactic water balloon
I’m now going to smile all day. 😁