Did I mention that work is killing me?

There's something unique about working in the background with parade participants. It really shows me a different perspective about the prep work and the staging of the event. For years and years, ever since I was a youngster, attending some sort of street parade was always a treat. Seattle's annual summer parade, the Torchlight Parade, was the biggest and most popular. Pack up the car with lawn chairs and blankets, head out to the parade route, pick the ideal spot, and just camp out. My parents would always bring treats and drinks to keep us young'uns occupied until the actual parade rolled around. As the parade passed us by, we used to cheer and yell as loud as we could and hope the folks marching along would notice us and come by to shake our hands or give us candy or stickers any other knickknacks they'd be carrying. Of course, we were always terrified by the arrival of the Seafair Pirates. Those costumed menaces were notorious for grabbing young children kicking and screaming and crying and carrying them down the parade route for half a block before returning them to their rightful parents. I think kids used to get so traumatized that this practice eventually stopped. But the Pirates had other means of scaring children, besides their menacing looks and loud booming voices, they would drag and scrape their swords along the pavement exceedingly close to the sidewalk curb where the children would be sitting, threatening their little toes. I used to hide behind my mom when the pirates came around.

These days, I'm working "with" the parade participants instead being on "the fan side" of things. As I said, it's quite a different perspective. Being able to freely roam around in the staging area, it's like having a backstage pass. (not that I've ever had a backstage pass before to compare with, but you get the idea) Close enough to actually lay my hands on those convertible Corvettes that chauffeur the Seafair Princesses while they do their little fake hand waving. (I make them move out of the way while I take pictures of the car.) (haha, wouldn't that be funny) Close enough to tell the Univ of Washington cheer squad wearing their short short skirts to cross their legs when they're sitting on the curb waiting for the parade to start. (I can't believe these girls...didn't their parents teach them anything?) (SAW - don't even start with me :P ) Close enough to the "floats" to pluck their little decorations off and keep as souvenirs. And of course, close enough to the horses to pray that we won't be stuck following THEM in the parade order.

^ From last year's parade, at the staging area on the Seattle Center grounds. The 100-foot, 15-pole, gaudily sequined serpent awaits it's run through the downtown streets of Seattle. And run it will, powered by roughly 100 asian boys as they switch off every block like some chaotic relay race along the 3 mile route. This isn't like some other dragons in other cities that are "walked" along the parade route. These boys RUN the dragon, sometimes flat-out, serpenting from one side of the street to the other, rousing the crowd, dancing in step with the massive lion-dance style bass drum and gongs and cymbals. I tell ya, it's quite a rush to hear the cheers and claps from the parade crowds, sometimes 10 to 20 persons deep on each side.

And the little kids sitting along the curb, waiting for hours, they don't know any of us from Adam, but they love to just get high fives from us as we pass them by. We're not some scary ass pirates.

See you all on Saturday at the Torchlight Parade.