Another Perspective

Gaggles of girls, dressed in green, gathered around the cars.  The St. Patrick's Day parade was about to begin.  Despite the snow on the ground, the roads were pretty dry so the Irish dance shoes wouldn't get too torn up dancing on wet asphalt for the mile and a half through Old Town.

Usually I'm on the "watching" side of the parade - standing on the sidewalk, pushing through throngs of people dressed in crazy GREEN outfits, chasing the dancers down the street so that I can be at the end when my dancer is done. It is exhilarating and exhausting.

This year, I was handed a set of keys and asked to drive one of the parade cars.  What a unique perspective. Waving at the crowd, winking at the little kids, making sure that I didn't hit the youngest dancers right in front of me.  Fortunately, speed wasn't an issue; I just had to keep an eye out for dancers who stopped in the road with shoe fails, wig fails, and just plain old tired feet.

The bonus of seeing the parade this way was that I got to watch the people enjoying the parade!  Smiling faces, waving arms, and scores of youngsters watching the dancers in awe - the parade view was wonderful from the driver's seat.