Being retired means being able to, usually, spend your time in any manner or way that you choose. The operative word there is, "choose". You see, it's all about the choice. What you choose to do is incidental; it's the fact that you can choose, each day, to do what you want to do that is the most alluring and attractive part of being retired.
And this choice can be a toughie. But it's all about you when you get to a point where you no longer have to work...and you're not content not doing something. What to do? Hahaha, tough choices.
We've been casting about the last few months for things that we're interested in; things to color our life with as we go from day to day. It not only adds some depth to the daily go-round, it can add friends and new experiences. And our circle of friends is growing.
But for today's adventure we go to our bird walks and a young man we met through them, Ian Keene. He's the City Coordinator for the Open Spaces and has been, through his position, sponsoring monthly bird walks through the Open Spaces. You can see his website here: http://lincolncityopenspaces.blogspot.com.
He put out some feelers to get volunteers for the Lincoln City 50th Birthday Party Parade. You could either walk in the parade, help direct cars to parking or be a Life Protector and Safeguard America's Streets for the Viewing Public. I choose the latter.
Hahaha, American Hero, it fits!! We got in touch with Sandy and volunteered and she said our beat would be the intersection of The 101 and 13th Street. Totally unconcerned with the 'unlucky' aspects of our assigned street, we bravely strode out with our one little yellow protective vest to keep America Safe for Democracy...and parades.
First things first, we had to stop by the Strung Out On Beads and Coffee Shoppe. Hahaha, it was going to be a long morning and I, at least, needed some more fortification. Plus, we got to take a gander at the inside of this eclectic little small-town America store.
It's definitely a oner. Inside he has a number of things for sale...some commercially made and some homemade. In fact, he does classes to teach you how to make wire-wrapped jewelry. Carol will be going at a date TBD.
See what I mean about having an eclectic selections of things for sale? What a fun way to start the day...browsing in this place and getting some coffee.
But soon enough we reported to our duty station!!
This we'll defend!!
Lincoln City was celebrating that 50 years ago the many small towns along this seven miles stretch of beach in Central Oregon decided to, for fiscal reasons, band together and make themselves one great city called.....Lincoln City!!
They didn't want to name the new city after any of the five towns they were consolidating into one so they held a contest for the schoolchildren to name the town and, well, you know what they chose.
What better way to celebrate than with a parade? Lots of people get to participate and lots of people get to watch!! Win!! Win!!
But to pull it off, they had to, partially, shut down The 101, the main road through the town. What they did was to close off half the road, the side going north and reroute all the traffic onto the side of the road heading south. That side was divided into two lanes, one going north and one going south. Doing it this way they could use the road through the center of town for their parade and still keep traffic going, albeit a bit slower, on The 101.
We were early for our appointed time of 0900 and the traffic was still very light on The 101. The side of the road we were on here will be the parade route. The other side of the highway is for the two-way traffic.
Hahaha, you betcha!! No parking here, y'all!!
They were still putting the finishing touches on the route...blocking off the side streets.
And while we were there we met some new people. That's Jane and her dog, Essie, on the left of Carol as you're looking at the picture and Sharon is on right.
Jane was a Professional Girl Scouter working out of Portland and drove all over this corner of Oregon keeping the Girl Scouts going. She lives in Depoe Bay now.
Sharon has lived in this area for about 50 years. She lives towards the northern part of LCO. They were both there for the Big Parade.
They got the traffic routed all to the west side of The 101. Woo, woo!!
And, y'know, it was working OK. It was slow, but around 1000 every day the traffic always slows down in LCO because of all the movement through the town.
Regardless, I was ready!! With my protective vest I would keep the Streets Safe for the American Way of Life!!
And I had a whistle, too!!
The excitement was building as the hour drew closer to the start of the parade.
"Tweet, tweet!!" I had to blow my whistle and get these two kids off the street. I tell, you, the youth today have no brains and no consideration!!
You know I kept my well-trained eye on these two young miscreants for the rest of the parade.
After I got the kids out of my way, I could see the Big Parade was getting ready to start!!
And, they're off!!
So I quickly scuttled to the other side of the street...where the danger was greatest and the need for a champion the most urgent!!
I was duty-bound to place myself in harm's way to keep America's pedestrians safe.
Carol got this quick shot of me as the National Colors were passing.
Fun Facts: Traditionally, members of the nation's veterans service organization have rendered the hand-salute during the National Anthem and at events involving the National Flag only while wearing their organization's official head-gear.
The National Defense Authorization Act of 2008 contained an amendment to allow un-uniformed service members, military retirees and veterans to render a hand salute during the hosting, lowering or passing of the U.S. Flag.
Further amendment further authorized hand-salutes during the National Anthem by veterans and out-of-uniform military personnel. This was included in the Defense Authorization Act of 2009, which President Bush signed on October 14, 2008.
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The Girl Scouts were carrying a huge American Flag. This was my view...from my side of the street. Carol was on the other side keeping the world safe.
And this is Carol's view of the same thing. Hers is better.
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Alright!! Let's have us some fun!!
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That's the truck that was used for that water rescue a month or two ago.
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Hey, here comes the Great Emancipator himself, Abraham!!
I saw this and I thought of my sister-in-law, Frances. She's a redhead and a member of the Red Hat Society. They're a huge force in The Villages, out in Florida.
Hahaha, everybody loves their Vet...especially these guys!! I swear, they have the most social dogs here in LCO.
There's J.R. Beaver from the Oregon State Parks. They do have a good system of parks out here. Plus, and I really do appreciate this, they gave me a Special Access Pass which allows me to get into any Oregon State Park for free because of my Veterans status.
Thank you, J.R.!!
Little Electric Cars...The wave of the future....for Oregon, at least. This state is so doggone left, they even had a group of 'Bernie For President' folks marching. Hahaha, at times it is difficult for me to keep my fat ol' Conservative mouth shut.
Electric cars are big out here. I'd have no trouble getting one of these little things...if all the other cars on the road were a comparable size. Trouble is, I'd feel a little vulnerable out there in one of these tiny tots.
The cheerleaders from Taft High School
And, right behind them, the football team. Oh, last night they beat the Spartans of Sheridan/Sheridan Japanese last night. Way to go, Tigers!!!
Oh, hey!! There's the Oregon Coast Today paper. It comes out every Wednesday and lists all the fun stuff to do in the area. It's a great resource for figuring out what to do during the week. Plus they have some good articles about what's happening here on the Central Coast of Oregon.
Then this guy came toolin' down the road. He wasn't in the parade but I sure thought he would have fit right in.
Whup!!
There's the Lincoln City Cultural Center (LC3). We're becoming more aware of them because they offer such a rich variety of arts, music and events. We really do have a first-class Cultural Center. Always something happening.
And right after them, although I don't know why they were so far back in the parade, is the Taft High Tiger Marching Band!! And they were making a joyful noise!! Although, they do leave something to be desired in the uniform category.
A very typical small-town parade. Lots of folks.
And here's our weekly newspaper, The News Guard!!
Hahaha, they come out once a week on Wednesdays. All the home town news that is fit to print!!
And the Boy Scouts made it. Here's Troop 47, Lincoln City's own.
And there's Richard's Ford!! We met Richard through the library. He enjoys showing his car at shows and, evidently, at parades, too. When we saw him and his wife, Priscilla, at the library later, the first question both of them had when we told them we'd just come from the parade was, "Did you see our car?"
Hahaha, yes, we did.
I did not know this, but today was the International Talk Like a Pirate Day. Yeah, there really is such a thing, Matey.
Fun Facts: International Talk Like a Pirate Day is a parodic holiday created in 1995 by John Baur (Ol' Chumbucket) and Mark Summers (Cap'n Slappy), of Albany, Oregon (figures, eh!?!), who proclaimed September 19 each year as the day when everyone in the world should - talk like a pirate. For example, on this day you should not greet your friends with a happy "Hello," but with a hearty "Ahoy, Matey!" The holiday, and its observance, springs from a romanticized view of the Golden Age of Piracy plus, I'm thinking, some creative help from several pints of intoxicating spirits.
How appropriate. The end of the parade is announced, sort of, with the Honey Bucket Truck from our local service, the North Lincoln Sanitary Service. This is a family-owned private service here in Lincoln City. And it tells in the different attitudes between these guys and the Trash Snoopers we had back in Seattle. Boy, Howdy!! If you overloaded the trash can by an ounce they'd leave it right there with a threatening note. Not these guys, they go out of their way to be nice. They'll even go and get the trash if you forget to leave it by the road. Wha...!?!
Whadya know, the whole thing only took about 35 minutes.
My job wasn't done! No Sireee-Bob!! I still had a duty to keep the world safe for street crossing and I wasn't going to shirk my duty!! Nor was Carol. She was still seated on her corner keeping an eagle-eye on everything. Plus petting all the dogs that walked by.
Only when it was finally safe did I lay down my Yellow Protective Vest and, knowing I had been instrumental in protecting the American Public, leave for lunch. And we didn't have to go far as our corner was 60 feet away from the Cruise Inn!! Win!! Win!!
After a satisfying lunch, we headed on over to the Lincoln City Library to do some volunteer work. Basically, it is shelving a lot of books. A lot of books!!
And so we did our part to keep America literate....for two hours. Hahaha, there's only so much shelving left in these old bones. Carol, poor girl, had to go and rearrange the books in the fiction section to make room for more...shelving. The regulars there call it doing the 'tighten up.'
This was her view for two hours!!
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There it is, The Friends of the Library Book Store.
But we had fun. And we got two more free books! One of the big benefits of volunteering at the library for me is that we sorta get the first picks on the books that interest us. For example, I got three books, The Boy Scouts Afoot in France (c. 1910), The Bobbsey Twins at the Ice Carnival (1941) and The Moving Picture Girls at Sea or A Pictured Shipwreck That Became Real (1913).
I'm enjoying reading these old books, especially the Boy's Books from the early 1900s. It's a glimpse into a world gone by in a very personal way. Plus they're easy and fun to read.
So we had a good day. We got to be involved in the community and give a little so we were very happy. And we're lovin' us some Small-Town America!!
Keeping busy and enjoying things.
Life is good.
Hooah!!
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