End of the day goodness

End of the day goodness
Backyard travel

Sunday, January 4, 2015

50,000 Pink Carnations on this Bubble Gum Float - Part Une


When I say that I have a reputation for torturing others with the Rose Bowl parade on New Years day, I am not kidding or exaggerating a bit.  Even in college where the New Year’s Eve festivities went on until 3 or 4 am, I would pop up in a hazy hotel room filled with people coating every piece of floor and furniture, quietly turn on the tv and rejoice in the floral borage through my hang over.  I would keep it as quiet as possible but I desperately needed to know how many 100’s of daisy’s, thousands of tapioca pearls, and millions of cranberry seeds were used on the animated butterfly on the Mutual of Omaha float.  I know, it is a strange obsession to have at 21.  I think most people don’t get the weather and tournament of roses obsessions until they have been on the planet at least 6 or 7 decades. 

Needless to say, no matter how quiet the parade announcers are in their perky morning personality voices, it is not quiet enough for 20-somethings on New Year’s morning.  I was fortunate to make it through this period of my life with friends.  Of course the next period of life was even weirder.  I married a guy who wore muscle shirts, smoked Marlborough’s in a gold and white package, drove a 1970 Chevelle and though I have tried not to say these words ever, when we first dated he did in fact have what could have been viewed as a mullet.  There is nothing wrong with these things.  But if you know me, this would be pretty much an exact opposite description of my soul mate.   I am sure I was the only one who was surprised after 9 months to realize this marriage was not going to work.  I put on the black hat and told this really sweet guy that I was riding off into the sunset without him. 

Nothing sobers a person up to adulthood like a failed marriage.  I was now a statistic.  I didn’t even have the excuse of getting married when I was too young to know better.  I was mid-twenties when I lost my mind.   I walked away from my marriage and my bohemian Wimberley lifestyle.  I decided it was time to start acting like a grown up.  I moved home.  I got a real job with people who did not drink vodka and smoke pot before noon.  So after Christmas I decided, what better way to embrace my new older wiser self, then to take a trip.  A trip to Pasadena Ca where one of my best childhood friend’s had just bought a house.  That is what I needed to ring in the New Year.  A trip to visit the person who spent hours comforting me when I could not admit to anyone else my marriage was crumbling.  The one person who would love me enough to be harassed into going to see the Rose Bowl Parade at 8am on New Year’s Day.

There are trips in life and then there are the monuments.  This was a monument.  When I look back, I am always amazed that the rock slide incident, the trickle shower, Coronado Bay, West Hollywood and the Rose Parade were all the same trip.  It was the most fun I ever had trying not to snore and inadvertently suck up lead paint.     

3 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. You completely ruined the image of hubby 1 when you mistakenly called his car a Chevellle. That was a tiny four cylinder economy car. He had a V8 Nova. The choice of all wanna be cheap hotrodders.
    BTW, you do not have to be 60 to enjoy watching the Rose Bowl Parade on TV. Chipper has watched it every year since we have been married. The only requirement is to be a female. Males try to pace them selves for the next 12 hours of games, beer and nachos. Did you see the Sikh float this year? There is no way to edit other than delete. If you go back in 2016, I recommend going to the Huntington Library.

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    1. Opps, I was thinking of a Chevette. Chevy had too many similar names back then. Hubby 1 did have a Nova.

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