Independence Day (32 years) began on Friday night, 20 September, with a big event at Memorial Park that included music and dignitaries. At midnight, the national anthem was played and an hour-long fireworks display happened...I know that because I heard the sound, though could not see anything from any of my windows! We stayed home for this part of the celebration, and Dave slept through it all.
Dave and I did go out to dinner to a new restaurant, the Barcelona, which is so pretty and which had such wonderful food! More like a California restaurant than any we have visited here! Quite gourmet!
On Saturday morning, Dave and I drove toward Memorial Park until we were turned around at the roundabout where parents were dropping off their children for the parade. The Independence Day Parade features the children from many schools, and they were all dressed in their uniforms. We had not arrived at a vantage point when Dave was called by BERT to fly to Punta Gorda! He turned around to return to the car and to the airport while I walked on to find a good place to view the parade. Many children were still flocking to the area, so I could see that the parade was not going to begin any time soon!
I found a place under the balcony of the City Council building, which was shady. This day turned into one of the hottest days that we've seen. (When I arrived home, weather.com said that it was "90 degrees, feels like 102!") I was glad to have the shade! A 3-year-old tapped me on the arm, engaging me in conversation, to show me his sunglasses and his spinning toy! We spent the entire parade in discussion (including my chastising him for littering)! His father was there, watching, and seemed to think that I did not appear a threat! I'm glad to have had Bama to talk with! Here's a picture of him, demonstrating his marching to the drums!
The mayor and his wife arrived in the pickup with the license plate "Mayor" and went in to watch the parade from the balcony! I thought this a good sign for a key place to be! (The mayor is in the blue shirt and his wife is just over his right shoulder.)
The parade began with the military marching, followed by cadets, then scouts and then schools. Trucks with people followed them, and BERT had two ambulances in this parade! Here are a few pictures.
I think Mis Belize City is in the BMW that looks nearly like my old one! OK...it is a little newer!
With the parade over, I needed to walk home. I decided to walk by the Sea to get the advantage of a sea breeze. I considered going to the Radisson for a drink and to wait for Dave...in hind sight, that was a very good idea. I was nearly home, nearing Hecklers' Corner (a corner near our house which is about the only place where we get hassled) when I realized that I had not brought a key along! So I went home to wait outside for an hour until Dave returned from his flight.
Now I have not mentioned that the last two days have been spent with contractors and plumbers working on our house. We have been unhappy with the sewer smell, and we noticed that a wood eating bug has been attacking the kitchen cabinets. Then there is the flood that occurs each time it rains hard with water flowing across our bedroom floor. Well, the plumbers were disturbed to find that the plumbing was never properly vented, so they are addressing that (digging in the yard, literally, as the gardner worked to trim the yard). The kitchen cabinets were emptied and under the sink treated (it actually has never been that clean), and the cabinet doors treated. Then the window/sliding door in the bedroom was re-caulked. But this project kept me home all morning Friday and Dave there all afternoon. Cooking was out of the question! (Hence, the dinner at Barcelona.) Tomorrow I shall clean house all day, and the kitchen will look spectacular! I am so glad that things are repaired!
Dave and I needed to go to the grocery store after we both arrived home, not knowing for sure if any store would be open on this holiday. Actually, we still don't know if any supermarkets were open, because in the bank's parking lot, Rattletrap died--right after we backed out of the parking place, which meant that we had to push it back into the parking place so the car next to us could leave the ATM! Dave called BERT to have them send over some jumper cables. On Friday morning, Dave had taken the car for a new battery, and when Dave opened the hood at the bank and touched a lead to the battery, it instantly burned his finger! Hmmm...not a good sign. BERT called back to say that the ambulance had to wait for a repair truck to come jump it, as the ambulance's battery was dead, and then the medic would come to help Dave with his car! Well, BERT doesn't own jumper cables, only a battery charger needing electricity. So Dave and Sam got a cable hooked on, and the ambulance (after a couple of starts and stops) towed the car to BERT where they could use the battery charger! Dave and I decided that the store would have to wait, so we drove home. I opened the gate to the driveway, and Dave put the car in reverse to back it in...when it died again! Dave and I were working at pushing the car up a slight incline to get it out of the narrow street and into the driveway when a very nice young man drove around the corner, stopped, and helped us push! People are so nice here!!
Dave is anxious about three things in his life around this job: the airplane, the phone, and the car, in that order. The airplane is in great shape! He spent some time lubricating it this week, and he washed some of the mud from the potholes in the tarmac off the plane! But his phone broke. It had apparently been glued together in the past, and a second gluing did not take. The phone is hanging by a thread. (I hope that BERT has my phone number in case his phone doesn't work!) And now Rattletrap is dead in the driveway, so the ambulance will have to pick him up tomorrow if he needs to get to the Airport! Life is always an adventure!
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