{Originally posted two years ago, but the tradition is still going strong and ended with a yummy barbecue potluck at our club house.  And we almost missed it because I was thinking it was going to be MONDAY!!}

DSC_4315 Our neighborhood resurrected a years' old tradition last week, born of Mayberry and family and simpler times:  a Fourth of July parade.

We don't have 76 trombones or 110 cornets or a thousand reeds, but we do have air horns and car horns and I think a kazoo or two.

white convertible VW on July 4th

red suv july fourth red mini cooper july 4th

Crowds don't fill the streets, but neighbors come out of their woodwork or brickwork to cheer for the red, white and blue…

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Patriotically-embellished lawnmowers replace tissue-laden flatbeds, golf carts putter street-side instead of brobdingnagian floats suspended overhead, and characters aren't cartoonish giants, they're pint-sized or daddy-sized.

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Slices of All American Apple Pie:  John Deere tractors, Radio Flyer red wagons, Harley and Rolling Stone tee shirts on middle-aged men, and a little surrey with the fringe on top.  They all bless my born-in-the-USA heart.

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Fouth of July decorated golf cart   

 

S i g h…how can you not love a home grown parade?  Since we don't have a riding mower or a golf cart or a tractor, I figure I could still "participate" by taking pictures of those who do…although a few rabble rousers asked me if they needed to sign a release.  To teach them a must-needed lesson, I added 10 pounds to their weight in Photoshop. 

You can have your Macy's Thanksgiving Day or Rose Parade…I'll stick with the party in the 'hood :). 

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How do you celebrate Independence Day?  Is this the quirky kind of thing you think of when you consider the South?  If you live in a neighborhood, do y'all have any community get-togethers?  If not, why not initiate a new tradition!!!

 

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