An early parade and a (sort of) late night.

The city of Fairmont kicks off the holiday shopping season, or at least the decoration illumination, a bit early. Back in Merill, they'd put up street decorations before Thanksgiving, but not light them until Thanksgiving or the next night. Fairmont lights most up the first night they're up. A few items in parks are an exception, they get put up early but not lit up right away.

Tonight they got lit up as part of the Fairmont Glows parade. The parade starts at one park which gets lit up and ends at another which also gets lit up. In the parade was a horse drawn trolley, pulled by a team of Belgian mares. (One of which I had been photographed with last year - that photo was in the local paper). I expected to see them, though not as far up in the parade as they were.

I had supper and went out to watch the parade, looking for this team and trolley. To my surprise they were in the third or fourth spot of the parade. Rather than wait most of the parade to see them for a moment, I wound up walking (on the sidewalk) a good share of the parade route so I could watch them. At the end park those riding in the parade departed the trolley... and I climbed on board. I had bit of a chat with the driver and found that he'd have the trolley and team (well, a team) back in a couple weeks for Fairmont's "Midnight Madness" bit - where I'd met him last year. I rode most of the way back to where I'd parked and figured I'd go home... until I saw him take the trolley in an expected direction. He was giving rides (no charge) for a bit after the parade. So I parked again and rode a bit more. We only made two or three circuits of a few blocks as there weren't many people around - evidently everyone went home or inside right away when the parade ended. I was dropped off, again not far from my car, and drove back to where he had his trailer.

He took care of the team, unhitching the horses and removing the harnesses. I pretty much just stood around for this. When it came time to break down the trolley (lights, sound system, decorations) I could be more helpful. After we had that taken care of, I drove him (I should say his name, Gerry) a couple blocks to Jake's Pizza and we shared a large pizza with mainly meat toppings. Actually, Jerry ate most of it and saved some pieces for breakfast or something. I only had a couple pieces. I was about to pay the bill when it was snatched out of my hands and I was told I wasn't paying it. Seems Gerry figured I saved him at least an hour's work for which he was grateful. (I doubt I sped things up quite that much, myself.)

A few things were mentioned, as the team was being put away and over the late supper. The horses are named May and Buttercup. Gerry said every time he takes the harness off May he wonders if it'll be the last. She's that old, and as he put it, "She should have stopped pulling four years ago." But she just keeps on going. I suspect part of that is that Gerry does have her pull, though only the shorter or lighter jobs, so she stays fit. One benefit of that age, though, is that May is quite experienced and calm. During the parade setup Jerry wasn't told where he was and expected to be in back, so went there. Some kid came up to him and told him was in the third position. Rather than drive the team up there (and quite possibly back if he was misinformed) he asked the kid to stand in front of the team (I assume offside) while he checked. When he got back, the kid was gone. The team hadn't moved - despite the activity which included other horses, various vehicles, some with flashing lights. He said had it not been May, things likely wouldn't have turned out so well.

Also, this summer he said his daughter was going to show her horse at a fair. Unfortunately there was an injury - nothing really really bad, but enough that showing this summer was out. I can only assume this was rather devastating to his daughter. So he suggested she try with May. May wouldn't spook and would be good around people, strange places, and other horses... but wouldn't win anything. "So just relax and enjoy the ride." But it seems nobody told May that was the plan. While she didn't place first in anything, as I recall, by the time things were over, she had placed 2nd and 3rd in a few things. To their surprise, they actually won 9 ribbons. Maybe there's more experience in that horse than they knew about.

After supper I dropped Gerry off back with his team and stayed long enough to be sure he got things fired up. He actually asked I do that, though I'd planned to anyway. The engine seemed to turn over right away and he was on his way - and then I was on mine as well.

I plan to be out late for the "Midnight Madness" bit again. And like last year I'll wear my wool cloak - the one I should have worn tonight. It got a bit chilly out. Tonight, despite that, was quite good. I found it very therapeutic.