Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Happy 4th!
Here is the lost video footage of a 4th of July at Lake Herman, oh so many years ago. Each year, the people who live near the lake get together and put on their own parade. In a counterintuitive move this particular year, the theme was "All the Other Holidays!"
Unfortunately my memory is as blurry as the video resolution, so I can't make out the theme of every float. The first few are confusing but after the guy walking the dog there seems to be the heart covered box denoting Valentine's day, followed by the Grim Reaper driving a tractor with a wagon filled with babies. Next is an Easter Bunny, but I have no idea what the float after that is commemorating...there seems to be a flag on it, so I assume it must be Flag Day. After the Thanksgiving Turkey, we see my personal favorite...an emaciated Santa hanging by his wrists in a pumpkin patch. The penultimate float seems to be another tribute to Flag day (why do the people of Madison love flag day so?) Our hosts tell us that the guy in the cowboy hat at the very end usually figures out a reason to dress in drag for every parade...for reasons that remain unclear, he decided to 'butch-up' for this parade. (I can only imagine that the overall quality of the celebration suffered because of it.)
I know that I was not alone in witnessing this 'live and in person.'' So if Roxy can remember any more details from this fine day, please elaborate in the comments section!
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2 comments:
. . . . Still . . . two years later . . . I am flabergasted and it makes not sense to me.
I don't know if it is the minimalist and ad hoc nature of the parade "floats" . . . the excrutiating pace . . . or the disturbing imagery and theme.
Is the "Valentine's Day" float (A gut with a box over his head, a visual metaphor for how we delude ourselves in personal relationships, or perhaps still maintain a wall around ourselves?
Is the Halloween" (I can only assume) float with the reaper and the children a symbol for death and birth as an eternal part of our existence?
Is the shcakckled Santa in the Pumpkin patch (seemingly presided over by a Great Pumpkin-esque figure with dubious motives) a representation of the commercialization and merchandizification of Christmas -- a "raping" of the original meaning of the hioliday, if you will?
. . . Or is it mostly that people had a lot of holiday stuff lying around and it seemd a good idea at the time . . .
We may never know. But thank you, citizens of Lake Herman, for helping dig a little deeper in ourselves . . . maybe . . . a little TOO deep . . .
Wow. The small town parades that members of the HIA encounter have always pushed the envelope and busted preconceptions.
Remember the "Small Engines" float in the Hermosa Rodeo parade? A flat bed of (running) small engines passing us by in all its smoke and stink, as we yelled "We love small engines! We love small engines!" so that they would throw us candy?
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