Saturday, March 5, 2011

Rituals

After a quick shower, her preparations began.  She pulled on a clean white T-shirt, her special white bloomers, and then the sparkly socks that we save for special occasions like this.  Teeth cleaned, she called me to help with her hair.  Pulling the brush through her hair, I couldn't help but think about how I used to do this when she was a little girl.  With her hair twisted up and contained, it was time to put the curls on.  She grasped the bottom of the wig and shoved the comb up the back of her neck while I gently pulled up and over the top of her head and tucked the comb just above her forehead.  Magically, her thick, straight hair was transformed into riotous curls of exactly the same color. 

We packed all of the necessary tools in the backpack: hairbands, bobby pins, ghillie shoes and black duct tape, and jumped into the car.  Weaving our way into Old Town, she was a bundle of nerves.  "Turn the music up, Mom, it helps calm me down!"  After lucking into a parking spot, it was time to complete the preparations.  Black ghillie shoes, with laces that wrap around the foot and the ankle, were tied on, and she stepped into a beautiful knee length white dress, with orange and green embroidered Celtic designs.  We attached the orange silk sash from the shoulder - and she was almost ready to go.  The last touch....the duct tape.  Lifting her foot like a horse having her shoes cleaned, Rebecca's black ghillie shoes are prepared for the mile trip down King Street.  The leather is not tough enough to to handle the asphalt, but duct tape on the bottom takes care of that. 

The girls line up with their dancing partners and run through a few steps.  Mrs. James deems them ready, and they follow the Marshal's directions out onto the parade route and into the cheers of the welcoming bystanders.  To the strains of Celtic music the lovely Irish Dancers step down the street at Alexandria's St. Patrick's Day Parade.  Erin Go Bragh!

5 comments:

  1. What's a parade without duct tape?

    Very nice profile.

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  2. Cool! Your sharing of the details while saving the purpose behind them made this piece work well. I really enjoyed reading this.

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  3. Thank goodness for Google, I had to use it to find out what ghillie shoes are. I thought I knew from the context but wanted to be sure. Hope you had a nice day for the parade. Thanks for extending my Celtic knowledge.

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  4. Beautiful post! I loved how you focused on the little details. I enjoyed a sneak peek into the behind the scenes action of what it takes to get ready for this!

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  5. I enjoyed this slice too. It was it's own little parade of revelations!

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