One thing I love about summer in the Northwest is that everyone seems to beam out of their homes and a true sense of community is born again. It really is like a rebirth. When the first weekend of warm sunshine hits, the sidewalks and parks are once again filled with jolly conversation and children’s laughter.
A feeling of extended family lasts through the summer in my small town. It can still be felt in coffee shops and in cottages by a roaring fire in the rainy, often dreary months. Sometimes when I think the rain has lasted far too long, that first warm sunny weekend breaks through and I once again see familiar faces come out of winter hibernation.
If there is one type of event that exudes small town family togetherness, it is a parade. Our town has two parades every summer: the pet parade and the Homer Davenport parade. The pet parade is a splendid display of dogs in tutus, bunny cages on Red wagons, cowgirls on ponies, and everything in between. And I do mean everything- this year we saw a Chihuahua quite contentedly riding on the back of a pig!
The second parade which just occurred this past weekend, is a parade to honor our town’s most famous citizen, Homer Davenport. I didn’t really see too many homages to Homer, but it was a nicely done parade. The best part of the parade was watching the people, and waving to friends and family who were in the parade.
Ava and I sat next to a wonderful woman and her three sons. The two younger sons were identical twins who were turning one that very day. Ava was perplexed by them, as she has not seen many twins in her short life. To make things better, a set of two-and-a-half year old fraternal twin girls were sitting on the other side of the boys. The girls just had to come meet the boys, and cooed at the babies, and stroked their chubby hands. It was really very endearing.
After the parade the town stayed bustling for a few hours, before dying down to its usual summer pace. Looking around in the sunlight people were relaxed and beaming around from place to place. I sat with Ava on a bench and enjoyed a silent mother-daughter moment, and thought that soon people would be scurrying from doorway to doorway in their overcoats and goulashes, trying to avoid the rain. Even though the sidewalks may no longer be places of chatting and relaxing afternoons in the winter, I know that a step inside a cozy shop will find people glowing as they did in the summer. While some of my extended family does indeed hibernate through the winter, I still have many friends and mirthful conversations to pull me through to the next sunny day.
No comments:
Post a Comment