Small Town on Parade

It was my first parade in decades and as the crowd gathered, I noticed that very few out-of-towners chose to join us in that hot morning sun for a piece of Americana. Perhaps they didn’t understand the value of a small-town events from the bottom of their overpriced pinot glasses or were too proud to be seen at something so gauche. From the sill of a local business, I watched from beneath a shaded overhang smiling. I noticed it was the people that were the real attraction. Adults cleared the way for children to gather candy at the street front while handing over the extras from more dangerous pavement. What I saw at the heart, was a reverence for community. That long missing piece of sanity that has somehow eluded us in the corridors of profit. The joy of just hanging out together without banter, booze, or self-centeredness was a reminder of the power of honest culture. Rural gatherings remind us of a better time of cooperation and humility. I hope we will begin to embrace those values once more.