It was the town carnival today. The littlest boy wanted to be in it, so he put on his football kit and the two of us headed for the rendezvous point. Quite a few mums had been told to get there a whole hour before the start time, so things were quite lively by the time we arrived, just twenty minutes early. Someone had thoughtfully brought a football, so the team took the opportunity to have a particularly vigorous kick about, with all ages piling in together.
The theme was hard to determine. Being the fourth of July, there was a definite American flavour, but with a vintage and WWII element as well. Sort of Wild West meets Dad's Army, but with more pink than you would usually expect.
About half of the town were in the parade, and the other half were watching. I walked with the littlest boy, to keep an eye on any possible antics. They were quite a crowd walking along together. At one point I could hear the sound of scuffling and loud popping sounds. The next time I caught sight of the smaller team members several of them were clutching balloons. You can imagine how this entertained them for the rest of the parade.
We walked behind the local country music association and the line dancers, and in front of a zumba band and frolicking ladies in brightly coloured feathers and mesh. At one point the parade halted, and everyone kind of shunted up together. The country music chaps up front were calling the dance for the stetson wearing troupe, and the zumba band behind were banging out their rhythm for all they were worth. The feather ladies kept going very gamely the whole time. There was a small amount of kicking of each other within the football section of the parade, but honestly, it was hardly noticeable on the whole. And a couple of balloon skirmishes and a few more pops. But all in all I felt it went off pretty smoothly.
I did feel slightly in need of a lie down in a darkened room when I got home, but by that time everyone was hungry so I made lunch instead.
The last few pictures are calming water shots. Dee, your flamingoes are in the third picture from the end, you can just make them out. Mrs Duck at the end just had the one duckling, but you could see she loved him a lot. Made my heart glad.
Looks fun :) I especially like the male skirt wearing pink-euphonium-player, and why not eh
ReplyDeleteLooks like a great community carnival. I can just imagine the football team!
ReplyDeleteI've spent the day learning to make Zentangle inspired cards and artwork. :)
have a great Sunday. x
Viewing your post was kind of like a deja vu moment for me.. we sat on the side of the road and watch our little town parade and had similar views you and me.. from across the world from each other. But we did hot have any pink boa people. You win on that one. It was quite the zoo here at home afterwards with the smoke pouring out of the BBQ and little kids running in and out of the back door and each time slamming it shut. Fun times. ((hugs)), Teresa :-)
ReplyDeleteLooks like an exciting and colourful afternoon. :-)
ReplyDeleteLooks like an exciting and colourful afternoon. :-)
ReplyDeletefun times x
ReplyDeleteDear CJ, I've never read a more perfect encapsulation of motherhood than your remark about the darkened room and lunch.
ReplyDeleteWow it looks wonderful! and the weather looks perfect too, always a hit and miss for british parades!
ReplyDeleteIt's looks, and sounds, like you enjoyed yourselves. Your description about it being like the Wild West meeting Dad's Army conjures up vivid images. I really like the last but one one picture with the lake and tree.
ReplyDeleteThis so made me laugh! I love your way of writing and I do hope you got that lie down eventually!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea to be able to take part if you wish to - that's how all carnivals should be. Well done for surviving it!
ReplyDeleteCaz xx
Wow, that was quite the sight. The kind of thing that I normally avoid (I'd head for the nature center instead.) I'm amazed you have enough country music lovers in your town to make up an association - I've never thought of American country music in England before!
ReplyDeleteHa ha, your description of the event in your second paragraph made me chuckle, but awww, only one duck, I wonder what happened to the rest.
ReplyDeleteThe carnival sounds like fun - for the littlest boy at least. We have a parade like this every year and I have been quite successful keeping it a secret, this being a big city and a big parade, opportunities for crowd induced panic are all present. Mine that is. I hope you had a more relaxing day today. xx
ReplyDeleteIt sounds a bit intense, but it was probably a lot of fun. I like parades but they can get pretty wild sometimes. I once went to one where they had a clown who would blow confetti out of a trumpet into your face. It was fun the first time, but not the second or third. Those old cars are cool. My son calls them "Old West cars" for some reason. He always has. When we were driving home from Colorado the week before last, we found ourselves in the middle of a large pack of classic cars that were traveling from Missouri to California as part of a "Great Race" program, sort of like the old movie, and they were fun to see because some of them barely seemed road-worthy. In fact, some were pulled to the side of the freeway with smoke pouring out of them, which didn't seem promising at all. Interesting to be on the road with them, though. I hope you have a good week, CJ.
ReplyDeleteBrilliant post CJ - it made me chuckle ! It all sounds like alot of fun :-) Kate xx
ReplyDeleteHow fun that there was some 4th of July flavor in your parade over there!!! I didn't know that happened at all. I just assumed the whole world hated Americans haha. Huge fan of the WWII vehicles!
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a very unusual parade. :-)
ReplyDeleteLove the tree and water shot - beautiful.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a fun time! I'm sure the littlest boy loved marching in the parade! We didn't make it to the parade this year, but did see a nice fireworks show the night of the 4th. Hopefully next weekend will be a little more quiet:)
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing the fun of your carnival day, CJ. Although I was born across the pond from you, I am often reminded by the names of towns and cities in the USA that they are names that were brought over from your part of the world. Then when I see photos like you share of your your countryside I am struck with how some areas in the states are much like yours. [not so many cathedrals and wonderful stone cottages in the parts where I am living now however in the Pacific Northwest :) ] Teresa Kasner introduced me to your blog and I am glad she did. I hope you and yours have a happy week!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great day, we missed a local fair here at the weekend, I wished I'd made more of an effort to go! How very well behaved you were to make lunch for your hungry crowd. I'm sure the dark room was much longed for x
ReplyDeleteAh parades and bunting flags and balloons. Sounds like a good time, but I would need a lie down afters too. They are lucky you are so nice, I would've told them to scrape together their own feed, ha! Yay Flamingos!
ReplyDelete*giggle* i need a lie down just after reading this. :)
ReplyDeletei'm so touched by the single duckling for some reason. it's sort of sad and delightful all at once.
xo
Sounds like a fun day out and I love the old vehicles - you're right, definitely a bit Dad's Army! The mother duck caring for her solo duckling is so sweet. We have ducks on our river and find that the quality of mothering skills varies enormously! Enjoy the rest of the week. xx
ReplyDeleteLovely! Wish I'd seen the football team sandwiched between the frolicking ladies in feathers :o) Hope you got your lie down in a darkened room eventually (such is motherhood, eh?) xxx
ReplyDeleteSounds like fun CJ. I hope you got your lie down. Enjoy the rest of the week.
ReplyDeleteJane xx
Wow, quite an eclectic parade with something for everyone. It sounds like you ended up in a pretty lively section - small boys, line dancers and zumba dancers too - I hope you did get a lie down! In contrast I enjoyed your serene waterside photos. All those greens, blues and reflections make me feel cool and relaxed just looking at them.
ReplyDeleteCathy x
That looks like a lot of fun but I much prefer the peaceful tree and lake moment, that looks more appealing, especially on a hot day! It's lovely when everyone makes an effort to come out for a community day, even if there's temptation to give in to balloon popping! I think I would have insisted on a quiet lie down after lunch … xx
ReplyDeleteOh CJ, it sounds just like our carnival! All sorts of folk come out of the woodwork, some in pink feathers too. I would have insisted on a lie down after that and told them to get their own lunch :-)
ReplyDeleteBrilliant post! I was raised on Bridgwater Carnival, a very different kind of thing.
ReplyDeleteLocal carnivals can be such fun can't they, Weymouth used to have fantastic carnivals years ago with such many local businesses and groups taking part. I remember taking part in the Dorchester carnival when my son was younger, you get a different perspective taking part! Sarah x
ReplyDeleteHee hee. Very funny, and one of your best post titles yet. Xx
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