Nothin' Like a Parade...

Seattle Style.

Ray & I went to the Fremont parade this last Saturday, an annual event celebrating the solstice.

It's always a little bittersweet because 1) you're all excited and stuff that it's FINALLY summer in Seattle, but 2) it means the days will start getting shorter again in the morning. Sigh.

Anyhoo...

The whole thing starts off with about 300+ naked bicyclists. I guess originally they "crashed" the parade, but given the whole free spirit and woo-wooness of this particular parade, they became a mainstay and now "crash" it every year just before it starts. Every year the police make a big deal about how they're going to arrest folks, but they never do. Most of the cyclists paint themselves (thank God) in all sorts of really creative ways.

No motorized vehicles or advertisements are allowed, so you get lots of huge mobile puppets, paper mache floats, randomness, belly dancers, random people decked out in flowers and vines, and creativity.

For instance...
A bunch of adults (probably parents), many in monkey outfits, pushed this bed float down the street, complete with a mattress and box spring, big paper mache monkey, and about 30 little kids jumping up and down on the mattress. All along the route people in the crowd would spontaneously start singing "ten little monkeys, jumping on a bed..."

Afterwards Ray & I walked around the booths. I've never thought of Ray's ears as big, and, well, it wasn't like they had to shout it out to the whole world.