Been porch sittin' all summer. My arms are the darkest tan I ever had. Getting my vitamin D.
Couple days ago, I am sitting on the bench out front, and a guy drives by, turns into our circle drive, and pulls up in front of me and rolls down a window. He asks, "Where do you get dragon milk?" What? Dragon milk. "I don't know what that is." He says. "It comes from cows with really short legs so it is draggin' on the ground." Then he rolls his window back up and drives away. Ah, draggin' milk. Caught me totally by surprise.
Today we were out running around, and I came home with a newspaper and a cold beer and sat out front. The wife continued inside. Yakking with my neighbors. We watch the street out front, and a truck went by pulling a large trainer emblazoned "Mason high school marching band". SO I said, "The band is here." I say that whenever I see someone toting an instrument. When I was touring with the rock bands, we'd arrive at a club and walk in with our instruments and someone there would always call out, "The band is here." SO now I do it. And I wondered where they were going. I finished my beer...
Turns out they were going right around the corner by our north side wall. It was the homecoming parade, mustering on our side street. . Saw several uniformed people walking back there. And when we looked there were at least a hundred uniformed teenagers with instruments. They were ratatatting and tuning up for a while. Sparkly little girls were twirling flags. I could see at the far end were several vehicles with the homecoming "royalty" sitting up on the rear decks of convertibles. And a whole passel of really young kids, in junior cheerleader suits or a bunch of kids in uniforms with numbers on then, presumably football teams of one sort or another. A really butch looking woman in a black suit conferred with the drum majors and then stood aside peering at her wrist watch. I assume she was the band teacher. Then at the moment the courthouse clock tower struck 6PM, she cued the band who started to play something and the escort police car ahead of them started up the street. Then the whole she-bang walked on up the street. One little cart of folks was tossing hands full of candy onto the street. Little kids scrambled, but then so did a number of adults. There were two drum majors. Well really, there was a drum major, a full size fellow in his white uniform and shiny baton. There was a second but he or she was a tiny person, so I decided she was a drum minor.
The parade was going up a block then turning right and a half mile or so down to the high school for the big game. Friday night is football night in middle America. The parade was not all that long, I had walked around the building a ways to watch. Upper 80s. gentle breeze, not too humid. Fine porch sittin' weather.
Driving down the road earlier we passed a sign that said "FOR LEASE". I started singing....doodle-doodle-doodle-dooo, doo-doo-do-doooo, doo-doo-do-doooo. Doodle-doodle-doodle-dooo. etc. The wife heaved a large sigh. Fur Elise, indeed...