The hit parade

For entertainment, Dillon and I went to the downtown Christmas parade tonight. We stationed ourselves near the intersection where his daddy was working, in hope that we would get to visit some. We did, between Daniel's repeated explanations to confounded drivers that they could not drive THROUGH the pylons and barriers that blocked the street.

Right as we got settled (me in my collapsible chair and Dillon in his stroller) a large family came to sit in front of us. There were lots of children who had brought assorted pieces of bedding to spread out on the sidewalk. Chain-smoking "Nana" supervised the invasion.

There were several tense moments when Small Child A could not find a place for her "pilla" and it looked like she would not get to take a nap at the parade. Finally, Nana directed her to a place directly between Dillon and me. When all of the children found a place to sprawl out, they discovered that a concrete sidewalk is not a comfy place to rest. They repeatedly popped their heads up and fussed with their blankets.

"SIT DAN ON 'AT PILLA!"

"Quit wigglin' aroun' and be stee-yul!"

"People is tryin' to SEE!"

"Git them covers awf a' him!" Smoking Nana bellowed into my ear.

The shouting did nothing to calm the children, it just increased the noise in our corner of the world. The floats puttered by, music playing, people dancing and singing, horns blowing. Dillon barely looked. He was enthralled by the scene playing out at our feet (and between our chairs).

It was rather captivating. Maybe we will go again next year.