Yankee Doodle Dandy or maybe not

The mornings of patriotic holidays, Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Veteran’s Day have been consumed by a new routine – the Parade. We used to start every holiday morning whether it was Memorial Day or New Year’s Day with a special breakfast that consisted of Blintzes and Orange Julius. Since the kids got older we’ve pared that down to a few less holiday mornings. Mother’s Day and Father’s Day have even gone by the wayside with a preferred Sunday morning brunch at the Packing House instead of spending the entire morning cooking blintzes.

Jeff’s patriotism is commendable and I am as proud of his military service as he is. He sets a high standard when it comes to duty and country and his knowledge of proper military etiquette is vast. Since our HOG chapter is always invited to appear in parades, we gladly participate. Jeff prepped his Harley with special flagpole holders that are mounted on the bike. He can ride with 3’ x 5’ flags on each side and miniature versions mounted on the back. He makes sure we have enough hard, individually wrapped candy to throw to the kids in the crowd. The American flag will always fly in its proper position, on the right side of the bike; the real question is which one will get to appear to the left. He has a Navy flag and a POW flag. Since we did Rolling Thunder this year, the POW flag got the honors for the 4th of July parade today. I’m certain that as the years pass, his collection of flags will grow from the experiences that we have.

So Jeff polishes his bike the night before, preps his flags, and packs them in the bike for the morning’s events. We dress in our proper patriotic/Harley gear, pour our coffee in travel mugs and off we go. We meet as a group at the Harley dealership then head out to line up for the parade. We spend more time waiting for the parade to start than the actual ride from the beginning to the end. I try to make the candy hold out till the very end, but that’s difficult. No matter how much we have, there is never enough. When we hit the end of the parade route, we just take off for home. Some of the group meets for breakfast at their favorite group spot. We just prefer home.

After making our own homemade breakfast and a second pot of coffee, we spend the day enjoying all the amenities of our own backyard. Between the deck chairs, lounge chairs, pool, and hot tub, there is plenty to enjoy. And the view is fantastic. As the day moved along, we decided to barbecue at home. BJ and his girlfriend decided to hang out too. It was a nice afternoon without much hoopla. As day turned to night we decided to avoid the crowds of the fireworks. We had no need to leave home (since the parade) all day so why ruin it now. We could see some of the fireworks from the park by looking east anyway and that was enough for us.

Every holiday could be like today and that would be just fine with me.