Monday was Memorial Day here and, as is traditional, we turned out for the local parade. We showed appreciation for the veterans and firefighters, admired the historic vehicles and cheered on the school marching bands. They were already looking a little overheated when they reached us, partway through their first number and still had some distance to go, presumably including the punishing uphill section on the other side of the river. We felt particularly sorry for the modestly sized boy playing the sousaphone. Exile #1 noticed that he had his own personal assistant who would pour water into him at convenient moments.
Memorial Day is also, of course, the traditional start of vacation season and you can detect the imminent arrival of holidaymakers in the air. Attractions and restaurants are opening up, training courses are being held for seasonal workers and at our local supermarket there is a sense of doom. At the checkout this week, the clerk suggested that I might like to reconsider my choice of store. Just as the population of our town is about to triple in size, so is their turnover.
With this oncoming storm in mind, we have continued to stock up on beach time. On Saturday, we even had a beach crawl, beginning on one and continuing on to the next after a brief stop for lunch. At this time of year, the beaches are surprisingly empty. Many local families are presumably busy with dance class and little league and others perhaps take them for granted but for us the beach is still magical and I hope we'll still feel that way (and share nicely!) when the "out-of-towners" descend!
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