Mayberry

An out-of-town friend of ours recently shared his feelings on our little town after being woken from a nap that was not quite long enough by the six o'clock siren from the firehall... Mayberry crap he called it. I hope none of you are offended - we did find it rather funny.

Today another Mayberry tradition was carried on - the annual Summer-fest parade. Several Harley look-a-likes started it off, then came all of the fire trucks from the Mayberry fire company. These were followed by a float of sorts.... a pickup truck with a couple balloons attached pulling a flat-bed trailer carrying Beauty and the Beast... we were not sure which was which... Next came several tractors that had been lovingly washed and polished by their Mayberry owners. Another "float" followed this one advertising the rotary club and stating that" Mayberry rocks." Our humble governor and senator even showed up in a very shiny converatble and joined in throwing candy to all the kids lining the streets. More fire trucks drove through, these from the suburbs of Mayberry, then another float, followed by all of the vehicles from the fire company coming from the town down the road. We like fire trucks here. Another float joined in, this one decorated for Mardi Gras... I don't think this town really wants to go there. Then came the old cars... thankfully, they are NICE old cars, shiny, appear to be in good condition. One unfortunate soul did, however, suffer a small amount of embarassment when he had to PUSH his shiny old car through the parade.
Suddenly, T is jumping up and down, far more excited about this float than about the candy that had been thrown from previous ones... "Bud's coming! Bud's coming!" The Boy Scout's float was coming down the road - pulled by a semi, no less! They all looked so very cute dressed up as little jailbirds. After he passed by grinning ear to ear and waving, we saw... more tractors, and a float filled with rockers and a sign that read "Class of '81 still rocks." They are old enough to need rockers? I am scared... wait, they did all GRADUATE two years after I was born. Yeah, I guess that is old. Another tractor followed and then came a horse driven wagon followed by a handful of horses and their riders. Wait, who is that riding the last horse and bringing up the rear of the parade? Oh yeah, that out-of-town friend of ours who had just mentioned in a not so happy way the Mayberry crap... Seems a little ironic, perhaps.
And to top of my sights for the day, I see a relatively normal and decent looking young man riding his bicycle on the sidewalk... with a full grown golden retriever snuggly tucked into the basket on the back of his bike. I suppose this cancels out the "normal".... I think he was right, we are, after all, really in Mayberry.