May Day report

[pegkerr]

The inhaler has really eased most of my problems and this was the first day in a week that I felt close to normal. I put on my bright purple top and draped on my dragon sarong, and packed us a picnic dinner. I dropped the girls off at the parade gathering spot and then drove back up near Powderhorn Park and parked. The parade seemed to me to take awhile to start: they started at 1:00, but didn't reach where I was until 2:30 or so. After I made my first phone post, where I mentioned how different it felt to watch the parade without the girls beside me, I saw Sheila Foster, the mother of Fiona's friend Sydney, and beckoned her over to join me. That was fun, to have a friend to talk with, and Sheila had a walkie-talkie along connecting her to Sydney, who was marching beside Delia, so that eased my motherly nerves about being separated from the girls. An enterprising family in a house nearby was selling mangos on a stick to the crowd and I got one for Sheila and one for me. Never have eaten a mango on a stick before, but it seemed like perfect May Day parade food.

Here came the parade (excerpts from the "Parade Story" handed out by the volunteers).

Introduction

The parade's theme is The Time is Now to Come Together for the Common Good. This section of the parade featured trumpets, "purifying the air and clearing the way." I saw these being made during the art workshops from cut-off whiffle bats, with huge flexible tubes for the mouthpieces and bells made out of plastic flower pots duct-taped to the bottom of the bats. One float had about six huge intertwined trumpets sounding into the air.

To Speak the Truth

The first section features Janus, the god of doors, of beginnings and endings, with the Skeletons, opening the doors to these stories of truth. Crows/Ravens dance on the side of Janus that faces the past. They don't shrink from Death. Crow/Raven are willing to destroy old forms, institutions, expectations. Cranes/Herons, representing self-contemplation/wisdom, dance on the side of Janus that faces the future. We must speak the truth of our desire for a future of renewal and rebirth.

I saw the Raven costume I was supposed to wear, but the person animating it was doing a fine job, and I was satisfied.

Listen to the Heart Speak

This section emphasized listening to the heartbeat. Despite all our differences, we all have a beating heart. Drums in this section of the parade represented the heartbeats of all of us, emphasizing our common heritage. How do we communicate with the world around us, the earth, the sky, the waters, the animals and the heavens? By being in tune with our own hearts. This section of the parade featured tall, celestial figures, like here and here, and sky-blue elephants, whose huge ears listen to the heartbeat of the earth. In the language of Egypt, the word for 'elephant' and 'heart,' ab and abu have the same root. Giraffes, whose lovely bodies reach up to the skies, all represent our connection to the heavens. Delia marched in this section, my sky blue giraffe, with silver stars for spots.





To Walk Hand in Hand.

The simple act of walking hand in hand is often taken for granted. We spring forth on the common ground like leaves of grass. This section featured blades of grass, and paired giant puppets joining hands across the nation

Check out our Commonwealth.

This section emphasized our common identity, and also was particularly organized to honor the library. Minneapolis' downtown library, newly built, is opening next weekend. This section featured the books, including many banned books which the forces arrayed against us would deny as our common heritage. Fiona was a book, the Webster Dictionary, featuring words that some try to repress, but the Liberation Librarians chased the repressive bookworms away and opened the books for the crowd to see and applaud.



To Regenerate With Gratitude Our Uproarious Energy.

This section featured the four dragons, the Air Dragon (festooned with balloons and pinwheels) which represented wind energy, the Earth Dragon (also here), symbol of regeneration and transformation, the Sun Dragon (also here), exciting orange and red, sustainer of solar power, and the mighty Water Dragon, a gorgeous whale, carried in honor of our lakes, rivers and oceans.

Using the trusty walkie-talkies, Sheila and I found the girls and then we headed to the Tree of Life ceremony. Fiona went to join the other Sun runners up the hill. Delia and I got good seats, quite close, and had a marvelous view as the Sun was rowed across the lake and the Tree of Life rose to the roar of the crowd's approval.

Afterwards, we joined a bunch of friends beside the lake and picnicked. The drum jam started up right beside us, and I joined the belly dancers for a while, making my dragon sarong undulate wildly. It was the most exercise I've gotten all week.

The weather was marvelous. The company was grand. Potato salad and brautwursts were eaten, and hard cider downed with relish (shhh, don't tell the Park Police.) The girls were beautiful and happy and magical, and I love them so much.

Happy May Day, everyone.

[Delia is weeping in the shower as I write this, she is so tired, poor little girl. That was a long long way for a celestial blue giraffe to march.]

Comments

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

Try again, I just unlocked the post to make it public.