Peace & Untity

Tired tonight. Walked to Long Beach's 20th Annual Martin Luther King Jr Day Peace & Unity parade and celebration. The paper said the parade started at 9:30AM and I had a late start due to another unable to sleep night. I considered taking a bus, because of my numb toe and leg pain, but hate waiting. Crisscrossing my way to Martin Luther King Ave. I got there around 10AM and it seemed the parade was stalled at Anaheim and MLK. At 10:30 I asked someone when the parade starts and he said 10:30.

I only have one pair of black jeans and wished I had opted for a skirt or shorts. I set on the sunny side of the street on a curb for a while; antsy walked north to the grandstand where music was playing. Keith Sweat "You Lied To Me" made me think of Dennis. I recognized the voices of girl singers but not the song which was a cover of older tunes. Pleasant. I was remembering the past as I looked at the park across the street.

When the parade finally started I decided I wanted to take a photo of Long Beach's Mounted Police. I do not think I have ever seen them riding horses around town. Bicycles and dune buggies, horses no. Because I had not eaten, I got a bacon wrapped pineapple hot dog. Yikes, can it be 20 years ago that I stopped eating bacon? Louisiana sausage caught my eye, but the vendor said it is hot, so opted to try the unusual hot dog. Sat on another curb to eat it. People were fun, waving and I waved back with a peace sign. Had to follow the New Orleans style dancers and ended up at the park. I was not thinking that it would be an hour until the parade was over.

I was thinking the paper saying the program would begin at 12 followed by the Delfonics and L.T.D. at 12:30. Walked around looking at the booths, keeping my eye on the tented area for seats to being filling up. Would be nice to have a group to attend affairs like this. Some could save seats up front while others get food or visit other attractions. I did get an up close view of the Crush band and later Delfonics. But I was standing and the leg/foot pain made it less enjoyable than it normally would have been.

Tired will finish up tomorrow.