Sunday, 15 December
 |
| Ho! Ho! Ho! |
Saturday night was the annual Kannapolis Christmas Parade
where half the town shows up to watch the other half parade by as caroling
church groups, the high school band, children dancing, the local dentist
handing out toothbrushes and Freddie Krueger making an appearance in support of
the battle against cystic fibrosis. The
main street through the heart of the old mill town is lined with families
bundled up fat in layered clothes to ward off the chill of mid-December. The older folks bring folding chairs from
home to sit in while nestled beneath that great quilt blanket they got years
ago from Aunt Betty. Her hearing has
gotten so bad, you know. She’s
practically stone deaf. The funny thing
is, and this is so true, she picks up the phone when you ring her but, then,
she talks as though she’s guessing at what it is you just said. It’s got to be lonely for her still living on
that farm way north of here out on highway 601.
It’s good to ring her now and then but the conversation that follows just
doesn't make much sense, bless her heart.
A few of the farmers in the area show up on horseback for
the parade. Their wife might even be riding
next to them. It’s possible someone shows
up in fancy get up but, more than likely, they’re wearing Levis and a jacket
with a fleece-lined collar. In any case,
they become our very own Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, waving and greeting by name
the occasional familiar face they see in the crowd. Those faces get fewer by the year. This is a growing town, you know. It’s not like we’re a crossroads with a feed
store and a Winn Dixie for a grocer. We've
got our own mall now. It has a food
court, too, just like the big malls you see in Charlotte. We’re even starting to see a bit of our own
traffic congestion at Christmas time. People
backed up trying to do their mall shopping.
You got to know they’re mostly a bunch of Yankees that moved here from
up north. I hope they know having a
North Carolina driver’s license doesn't make them a genuine Tar Heel. Don’t get me wrong. They’re good people, for the most part. It’s just that they are on probation.
I like seeing the big trucks all decked out in Christmas
lights. They pull those flatbed trailers
behind them that carry some costumed community group in a manger scene or
singing while sitting on bales of hay or something. Now days more and more of them are using
amplified guitars and other such nonsense.
Hey, does anyone there realize it’s Christmas? Whatever happened to Silent Night? I like upbeat
music as much as the next guy but that’s what the marching band is for,
right?
Here’s something I know you’re really going to like. The local Fire Department’s fire truck is
slowly cruising by with festive lights on it.
The fireman driving it has his whole family in the cab with him and the
truck’s public address speaker is blasting out some three year old crying out “Merry
Christmas!” You think that kid feels
like this is a big deal or what? You
better believe it. Of course, next year
he’s going to want to do it all over again but then he’ll discover that being
four is now too old for the job. The
magic that goes with being three is highly under-appreciated.
Santa Claus is always the finale. He looked really good this year in his sleigh
and eight miniature reindeer frozen in the process of taking flight. I liked the fact that he wasn’t wearing horned-rimmed
glasses. This guy looked like the real
deal and not some book-keeper phoning in the part. He was truly merry. He waved just like you would expect he would
but he also had a microphone in his hand and he sounded truly concerned that
you were staying warm enough. I was a
little worried about him. I bet that
Santa outfit isn't all that warm. It’s
definitely not North Pole material. If
you’re doing Santa in one of these cold night parades you've got to be wearing
the long johns. It’s not good for kids
to see a shivering, miserable Santa Claus.
It’s just wrong having people feel sorry for poor Santa. He’s the last thing we see. He puts the exclamation mark on our parade
night memory. He warms our insides and
lights up our life with a heart-felt and jolly “Merry Christmas!”
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