July 2, 2005

We are sooooo cool and clear here in Vermont today after the heat and humidity cleared out last night. The sky is crystal clear, the sun bright, a lively breeze is blowing and I installed my new cradle system for my kayak, Namaskar. Namaskar loosely translated from Sanscript, "I celebrate and honor all of creation". Grace who is 6 and Joe who is 9 "helped" me with the installation. I don't think the kayak will move about now. I went out early again for a longer bike ride of about 10 miles. The hills are tough for me but I expect I will eventually get conditioned.

We are going to a band concert tonight at Crystal Beach in Bomoseen. I plan to wear warm clothing and bring a blanket. The high today is 75 and it promises to be much cooler when the sun goes down. There will be fireworks too sometime this weekend. We have many choices of where to view those. Probably parades in many of the towns too. I am reading 1776 by the great historian McCullough. The book is really about George Washington. I have been thinking about all the 4th of July parades I have attended in my life. One that stands out in my mind took place during my 10th summer. Our little town always had a parade and my Dad being the firechief had much to do with the planning of the celebration. I was allowed to ride one of my grandmother's draft horses, a grey percheron gelding, 17.2 hands and approx. 1800 lbs, named Duke. I wanted to ride in the parade with several horsey friends. Grandma initially said no since Duke had never been exposed to such a thing before. I did manage to convince her and I prepared to ride as a Native American. I didn't have a saddle anyway nor a bridle, just a headstall with braided baling twine reins. Duke was a spirited animal and strong willed. He really loved to run. I shampooed him, braided his mane and tail the night before. He looked grand. I rode in a bathing suit with a head band and no shoes. The morning of the parade, the organizers lined all the horses up right in front of a large brass band with lots of drums. Duke was excited and dancing around but I loved his showiness. Then the band began to play. My horse stood on his hind legs and proceeded to walk down the road with me clinging to his mane like a little burr. People lined the road and clapped thinking that we were performing for them. I couldn't get him down on all fours for long before he was up again. When he was down, he was spinning around and around. We presented quite a show. As we neared my grandmother's road which was blocked off with cars, he took the bit in his teeth and began to gallop fast. We jumped a car and proceeded to pound back to the safety of the barn as fast as he could go. I never took Duke to a parade again.

I hope ya'll have a safe Independance Day Celebration.