St. Patrick's Day Parade

Owen joined me yesterday to march with the BCPA crew in the inaugural St. Patrick's Day Parade in Normal. We had a great time, despite the cold winds that made an otherwise temperate March Saturday feel very cold indeed.

First off, I loved Owen's parade outfit. The John Deere sweatshirt, the green hat and green hued skeleton gloves, the sunglasses a la The Edge: He looked super cool!

Meanwhile, I struggled getting my St. Patrick's Day attire together. Anticipating the parade, on Monday I went online and ordered my first green t-shirt. OK, I do have one Dartmouth T from my time there, but nothing truly appropriate for Dutchman to wear to a St. Patrick's Day event.

Anyway, I ordered on Monday, selected the expedited shipping option, received a confirmation of my order on Tuesday, and was disappointed beyond belief when Friday's mail arrived and I still had nothing. So I dug a little deeper, found an old green sweater and carried on.

The t-shirt, of course, arrived in Saturday's mail, one hour and 20 minutes after the conclusion of the parade.

We still had plenty of fun, though. I arrived at the parade with a box of Lucky Charms, which, carrying out an idea I came up with at our staff meeting on Wednesday, I proceeded to throw up in the air confetti-style along the course.

It was a hoot! I even got groups of kids to stand with their mouths up to the sky and try to catch a piece or two as my throw rained down on them.

Last night at the Ira Glass performance we had at my theater I was told by a member of the Bloomington City Council that she let her kids eat the cereal off the street ...

High praise, indeed.

Owen, meanwhile, enjoyed all the other trappings of the parade, including the Shriner cars (above) and a tiny little puppy who rolled along with our group in a wagon (below).

He also enjoyed standing really close to a firetruck while we were waiting for the parade to begin as it was easily 10 degrees warmer on the vehicle's non-windward side.

Owen threw candy to the crowd. And Maya and Amy came down to watch. Although it was a much more trying experience for Maya whose three chief nemeses in town, Corny, Reggie, and Chip, also participated in the parade.

She hates people in costumes!

We made it up to her, though, with snacks out afterward. What a fun day!