Fourth of July Fun
Well, I hope that all my American friends had a happy Independence Day. We did.
The parade at Arroyo Seco was fun, Yeah, it was kind of a local-yokel thing, but that made it all the more entertaining. Arroyo Seco is about 1,200 people, most of whom are non-year-round residents (like Donald Rumsfeld and Julia Roberts) who own very expensive vacation homes. It shares a Fire Dept. with Arroyo Hondo and the firemen who led the parade got tons of applause. It also shares a Sheriff Dept. and he was greeted with stony silence. Everybody comes out for the event and, apparently, if you are new in town you get to be in the parade and everybody claps for you.
There were some truly bizarre parts, though. As with many parades people on floats throw candy and that's cool. And, because it was hot, some people threw ice, water balloons, or squirted water. However, one local BBQ place threw meat. Siriusly. Hot dogs, brats, and ribs went sailing into the crowd and people caught them. I will say this, though: it's incredibly cool to be part of something (no matter how dorky) in which the most applause goes to the solar energy floats (both the solar powered radio station and the actual solar panel installation company), the wind-power company float, and P-Flag. Part of P-Flags entry was a wagon with a dog in it and a sign that read, "Milo Has Two Mommies! It's Fun to Have Two Mommies!" Judging by Milo's weigh issues, though, he looked as of he the best part of having two mommies was getting fed twice as much. I felt rather sorry for the his mommies who had to pull him along. Sadly, I could not get a picture of it.
P-Flag also seemed to have the best post-parade party. We passed it on the way home and it looked pretty ragin'. There was also a hot gay couple in the Subaru ahead of us. (Yes, there was a ton of traffic and at the inevitable long line of Subarus.) They were kissing and having fun and obviously headed toward another post-party in the Taos Ski Valley. We almost followed and crashed, but had to get home.
Crappy parade shots:
The little kid in front of us was funny. Mad for candy, he kept diving in front of cars and floats.
He also pumped his fist in the air to Gov't Mule when this float went by.
Rock on, kid!
There were tractors and motorcycles...
and "marching bands" (a bunch of really good musicians with dreds) and these underdressed mariachi dudes:
and cars full of people I could not identify.
I did like the combo of Ohio plates and the New Mexico flag, though. There were horses and school kids and floats from most restaurants, pubs, and organizations in town. There were also puppets:
BTW, Code Pink is an organization of women who oppose the war.
And this woman who, I think represented the Spirit of Plants. She jumped off the float and kissed her girlfriend (to great cheering of the crowd) at one point, too.
And there was this kid, inexplicably dressed as a terrorist:
And, yes, the guy behind him is a scarecrow on a skateboard, but I don't get that, either.
There were also lots of artists who wanted to show off their work:
Traffic was heavy, so we parked at the cemetery down the road and, in absolute defiance of the "No Sketching or Photography" sign, I took pictures. They claimed they would prosecute, but I'm not afraid!
Spanish (Hispanic) cemeteries are truly unique and... erm... colorful.
The cookout was fun. There were about sixteen of us humans (plus four dogs), we had tons of food (both meat-oriented and vegetarian), and hung-out on the lawn drinking beer and wine. We also made homemade frozen yogurt with fresh goat milk and a hand-turned ice-cream maker. It was beyond delicious. The only bad moment came when Emma, my cat, who had been hanging out on the lawn with us was suddenly, unceremoniously attacked by Oso, the dog next door. He actually pinned her down completely, immobilized her, and put his jaws on her before anyone could pull him off. Emma was angry and shaken, but fine, and spent the rest of the evening hiding under our dining room table.
The parade at Arroyo Seco was fun, Yeah, it was kind of a local-yokel thing, but that made it all the more entertaining. Arroyo Seco is about 1,200 people, most of whom are non-year-round residents (like Donald Rumsfeld and Julia Roberts) who own very expensive vacation homes. It shares a Fire Dept. with Arroyo Hondo and the firemen who led the parade got tons of applause. It also shares a Sheriff Dept. and he was greeted with stony silence. Everybody comes out for the event and, apparently, if you are new in town you get to be in the parade and everybody claps for you.
There were some truly bizarre parts, though. As with many parades people on floats throw candy and that's cool. And, because it was hot, some people threw ice, water balloons, or squirted water. However, one local BBQ place threw meat. Siriusly. Hot dogs, brats, and ribs went sailing into the crowd and people caught them. I will say this, though: it's incredibly cool to be part of something (no matter how dorky) in which the most applause goes to the solar energy floats (both the solar powered radio station and the actual solar panel installation company), the wind-power company float, and P-Flag. Part of P-Flags entry was a wagon with a dog in it and a sign that read, "Milo Has Two Mommies! It's Fun to Have Two Mommies!" Judging by Milo's weigh issues, though, he looked as of he the best part of having two mommies was getting fed twice as much. I felt rather sorry for the his mommies who had to pull him along. Sadly, I could not get a picture of it.
P-Flag also seemed to have the best post-parade party. We passed it on the way home and it looked pretty ragin'. There was also a hot gay couple in the Subaru ahead of us. (Yes, there was a ton of traffic and at the inevitable long line of Subarus.) They were kissing and having fun and obviously headed toward another post-party in the Taos Ski Valley. We almost followed and crashed, but had to get home.
Crappy parade shots:
The little kid in front of us was funny. Mad for candy, he kept diving in front of cars and floats.
He also pumped his fist in the air to Gov't Mule when this float went by.
Rock on, kid!
There were tractors and motorcycles...
and "marching bands" (a bunch of really good musicians with dreds) and these underdressed mariachi dudes:
and cars full of people I could not identify.
I did like the combo of Ohio plates and the New Mexico flag, though. There were horses and school kids and floats from most restaurants, pubs, and organizations in town. There were also puppets:
BTW, Code Pink is an organization of women who oppose the war.
And this woman who, I think represented the Spirit of Plants. She jumped off the float and kissed her girlfriend (to great cheering of the crowd) at one point, too.
And there was this kid, inexplicably dressed as a terrorist:
And, yes, the guy behind him is a scarecrow on a skateboard, but I don't get that, either.
There were also lots of artists who wanted to show off their work:
Traffic was heavy, so we parked at the cemetery down the road and, in absolute defiance of the "No Sketching or Photography" sign, I took pictures. They claimed they would prosecute, but I'm not afraid!
Spanish (Hispanic) cemeteries are truly unique and... erm... colorful.
The cookout was fun. There were about sixteen of us humans (plus four dogs), we had tons of food (both meat-oriented and vegetarian), and hung-out on the lawn drinking beer and wine. We also made homemade frozen yogurt with fresh goat milk and a hand-turned ice-cream maker. It was beyond delicious. The only bad moment came when Emma, my cat, who had been hanging out on the lawn with us was suddenly, unceremoniously attacked by Oso, the dog next door. He actually pinned her down completely, immobilized her, and put his jaws on her before anyone could pull him off. Emma was angry and shaken, but fine, and spent the rest of the evening hiding under our dining room table.