This afternoon, I had an appointment with my Lions Club. We were walking in the yearly Labor Day Parade, a highlight of the 52nd annual Fall Festival in Frankfort, Illinois. I live a mile and a half from the start point, and most years, I ride my bicycle through the crowded streets to get there. That wasn’t possible this year because I finally sold my beloved recumbent bike to clear the way to my car in the garage and also because the only time I ever rode the thing anymore was to get to the parade. My original plan was to walk, but I didn’t feel up to the walking 1.5 miles to walk another 1.5 miles in the parade and a final 1.5 miles home. I sissied out and took the car. When I finally reached the starting point I was directed to Grand Prairie School parking lot, another mile further away. I figured I could do that, if I hitched a ride back.
I inched my way through the traffic jam to get to the school. Upon reaching the stoplight to cross US 45, it was barricaded off, and a nice young blond-haired policeman about sixteen years old directed me away from that effort. That was the end of my parade. The traffic on LaGrange Road (US 45) was two cars wide and a mile down to Lincoln Highway. Any effort to park that far away was just lost energy. I came home. There was half an hour left to get to the parade on time, I am 1.5 miles away and I walk at two miles per hour. If I had just walked to the start point as I originally wanted to do I would have made it.
For the first time in fifteen years, I missed walking in the parade with my Lions Club. It’s not the parade that I missed; it is the beer fest we had afterward to cool down. I’ll watch last years parade and enjoy it jjust as much.
Filed under: Aging, Biography, family | Tagged: Fall Fest, Frankfort IL, Parade |
Now that’s a shame. They needed you.
Sorry you missed it, Joe. Maybe next year. I rode my grandsons electric bike and it scared the liver out of me. The thing can hit 30 mph in nothing flat, might as well be riding a soft Harley.