The Rose Parade

We got up early to watch the Rose Parade two days in a row. Who knew that it wasn't actually going to be on New Year's Day this year? (Well, probably a lot of the people who were paying attention, but not us.) It turns out it is never on Sunday - something to do with horse conflicts and the 'no rain on my parade' good luck charm that, evidently, didn't work this time. Nevertheless, we finally managed to see it and got immediately entranced with the 'numbers' game.

There were 48 floats, 25 marching bands (and for each we learned how many times they'd played in the parade, how many members were marching and how many bake sales they had to have in order to get there,) 23 equestrian units, 3 official vehicles, two floats that had to be towed because of last minute technical problems - all marching in a parade that is 117 years old. There were 4 new official roses, one new queen who used to be 17 years old but on that day had just turned 18... and they all marched the 5 1/2 mile parade route. Each float boasted a 'number' of flowers, volunteers who worked on it, hours it took to make, times its sponsor has 'sponsored' a float in the parade... There were stats I can't recall on how many flowers and from how many countries.

Amazing. Wasn't that all interesting?

(I am almost irresistibly tempted to make this a comparison of how the media treat real news because it is so compelling... but that would mean I'd be sarcastic right out of the chute, so to speak, in the new year. So I won't.)

It doesn't really matter, because the floats were incredibly beautiful, the designs were inspired, the bands were 'heart-swelling' and the sheer volume of rain was awesome. It was a great day for a parade!