Saturday-
After reading a plethora of positive amazon reviews I decided to try the Thundershirt,
which is a relatively new holistic approach to ending pet anxiety associated
with thunderstorms or fireworks. My
neighborhood (rather quiet during most of the year) is loudly patriotic. This year it was mid-June and the occasional
firework was set off in anticipation of our country’s annual celebration of
freedom. The Thundershirt worked great
during days when the popping was occasional, but on Saturday it sounded like WW3 was taking place outside our home and the shirt provided little to no
comfort. So, on Sunday expecting the
same patriotic commitment I had to result to good ol’ dog sedatives. This left
my dog quite drugged the entire weekend.
So, much so that on the fourth I had to attend the parade without him! Thus, if you are curious about trying the Thundershirt-
while the concept sounds great it really doesn’t do much to “hug away the fear”
as their slogan promotes.
If you notice his feet are at odd angles, due to the effects of sedation.
Sunday- On the
Lord’s day I went to Mass and also caught the latest Jane Austin inspired
filmed, “Love and Friendship.” The movie is inspired by one of Austin’s
earlier, less popular novels (Lady Susan) and though the movie is
hilariously funny- I didn’t like all the manipulation that took place in the
movie. Lady Susan happens to be a woman
that through astute skill manipulates people into doing whatever she wants- and
though it was to be taken as a comedy I found the way she toiled with people
really unbecoming. As an English major, more
than ninety percent of my classmates held Jane Austin as their favorite writer,
and while she did write novels with heroic female leads and wonderful plots-
Austen is not my favorite author. So, I
guess I can be more critical when discussing her work or in this case a film
based on one of her novels. Yet, I was able
to enjoy the film with two of my good friends and that was such a
blessing. Especially because we went to
eat beforehand and my friend (who lost her brother) finally opened up about her
hurt and it was nice to be there for her.
Monday- I
asked my nephew if he wanted to attend the parade (since my sis had to work)
and to my surprise he said he did. So,
he and I headed down towards the beach and found great parking only feet away
from the parade path. We happened to
park right on Adams and Main across from a mega Baptist church. The church annually throws a pre-parade
family fun celebration with game booths and prizes for the kids. Since, we arrived quite early we decided to
explore the church festivities and my nephew had a grand time playing games,
getting a silly balloon hat made, collecting a lot of patriotic swag and taking
a picture in front of a giant USA flag that we also got printed- did I mention
everything was free of charge! Score,
right! They also very kindly provided us
with free water bottles to keep hydrated during the parade. A lady kindly informed me that the church
does this kid-friendly celebration annually (good to know).
My favorite parade partner.
As the
parade time approached we headed to the route to find a place to enjoy the
parade and again we were met by a kind, old gentleman who let us sit on the
curbside outside his home. Thus, we had
great seats to view the parade. My
nephew and I had a great time enjoying the creative floats, the enchanting
horses, the many types of vehicles (especially the military vintage ones) and we dreamed together of how one day we
would be part of a parade ourselves. As
we were dreaming I saw this woman who looked awfully familiar on foot, she had
gotten out of her car to shake hands with some folk a few feet away from
me. As she was about to shake my hand I
realize that it really was the congresswoman I admired as a high school kid,
Loretta Sanchez! After shaking her hand
I tossed my phone to the little, old man that offered us his curb and grabbed my
nephew for an impromptu photo. Ms.
Sanchez was super kind about my desire to take a picture with her, and though
we might not agree on some political issues I still have a huge girl crush on
her (mostly because she embodies the immigrant dream). I think this has been the best parade
attendance of mine because I was in the best company - my nephew, who I
have the best conversations with. Hope your weekend was just as wonderful (smile).
First year Disney participates in HB parade.
On the sidewalk next to the man that allowed us to join him.
Taking it back to Civil War times.
Loved all the horses that paraded (smile)!
Must have dreams: someday I will be like this girl on horse at a parade.
Getting political with Loretta Sanchez!
Teaching my nephew to love both his cultures!
The most patriotic horse!
We loved the NASA blimps.
Snoopy makes an appearance.
This horse has better hair than me!
Catholics represented.
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