2023 Life Logs, Day 337: Falmouth Christmas Parade in the Rain
Date: Sunday, December 3, 2023
Weather: Overcast with Rain; High 47, Low 43 F; Sunset 4:14 pm (-0 min)
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
The Falmouth Christmas Parade celebrated 60 years in a rainy day parade. I have been to most Christmas parades since 2011, and none of them were in the rain. There have been some mighty cold ones, but the temperature today was in the upper 40’s. Even with the rain and the wind, it was not one of the chillier parade days. But the rain did put a damper on everything. Many of the people in the parade looked miserable. Ollie and Jed were in the parade with the Scouts, and at the end when I asked Ollie how he felt about being in the parade today, he said “miserable.”
But despite that, the bag pipers played, organizations like Falmouth Newcomers had fantastic floats to go along with theme of “Through the Years”, and organizations like the Friends of Nobska Lighthouse paraded with their banners. Santa arrived at the end of the parade, but not in a fancy float as usual. That was a bit of a disappointment. Still, it was Santa.
I drove into town an hour before the parade started and it was like a ghost town. I had my pick of parking sport and I chose to park right next to Main Street so I could watch from my car. But closer to the beginning of the parade I got out of the car and took my chair to sit under an awning. I don’t own an umbrella, so that wasn’t an option. When the parade started, I decided to move my chair to the edge of Main Street, and I watched the whole parade from there. At the end, I tried to text Jed so that I could drive him and Ollie home. But I got no response. I drove down Main Street and didn’t see them, so I went home. Just after I arrived, I got a text saying they were on Main Street and walking to my house. So, I grabbed the chili I made early in the morning to take to Jed and Ollie for lunch. Sam and Jonah were gone all day as they had soccer games off Cape. They had rides with friends, which allowed Jed to be with Ollie. I knew they would appreciate a good, hot chili after being out in the rain for so long, and I headed out to find them. I ate lunch with them and then we headed to Highfield to tour the mansion decked out for Christmas through the years. There was an old telephone, a phonograph from the early days of the 20th century, radios from the 40’s, and televisions from the early 60’s, plus beautiful decorations. Ollie’s favorite display has always been the trains, so we spent a good amount of time in that room.
It was a lovely afternoon, but I had a great deal of difficulty walking through the mansion. I had to use the elevator, a modern addition, to get to the second floor. But I just had to walk down to enjoy the decorations in the stairwell. Spectacular as always.
