121st Rose Parade- January 1

This parade is something John has always wanted to see, but we soon realized that we had to put out some money to make it happen. We were not about to set out our sleeping bags the day before so we could get good front row seating on the sidewalk along the parade route! So a couple of months ago we bought bleacher seats along the route, as well as a parking pass. And still with having those details covered, we had to be in Pasadena and parked by 7AM. It was pretty cool in those early hours, and the crowds were a force to be reckoned with, but it still turned out to be an enjoyable experience for us. The bad news is that I had the wrong setting on my camera, so I don't have any pictures to post here. The good news is that I can use that space to explain some of  the details of floats-hopefully you saw them on television. There were numerous bands in the parade, a lot  of them from different corners of our nation, but one small band from Ohio was the most inspiring. They were the Ohio State School for the Blind Marching Band. There were 31 band members who were accompanied by 37 spotters  (people who walked next to them as their visual support).  There are a few floats that I look for every year. One is the St.Louis Anheuser Busch float pulled by the Clydesdale horses. Its theme this year was the Quest for the Best celebrating the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. It just didn't give me the pride of St.Louis feeling like in the past. The Lutheran Laymen's League float The Ten Commandments-Jesus Fulfilled covered that theme well with Biblical scenes as the giving of the Ten Commandments, parting of the Red Sea by Moses, the crucifixion of Christ, and the resurrection- well done as always. New Life Rising was  awesome, a symbol of life arising out of the ashes when an organ donation is made. One float, which seemed to be liked by many, was the Scissored Wizard- it depicted a wizard who has created a giant origami dragon. According to the Rose Parade Program the dragon was covered with camellia and lemon leaves with seed patterns and green spider mum highlights.  I didn't quite have enough time to read the details of how each float was made while watching the parade, but when I took the time later to read how different flowers, seeds,  petals, leaves and different grasses made up each float, I wanted to see the parade all over again! Our son Mike was with us at the parade and video taped parts of it. If you would like to see some of the floats click on to his vidio on YouTube.