Palatka

Palatka – most memorable Memorial Day parade ever – no floats, no marching band -– the lead old vet got to stand in the back of a pick-up truck, hands on the cab like a friendly bag of fertilizer. Next came walking vets in plumed hats. The Viet Nam vets looked more like they were there to protest the whole thing. And every little girl in town was Miss Something To Do With Blue Crabs, all in Tinker Bell dresses and gold hair bands. The absolute queen had the wave to an amazingly robotic degree. Her whole body seemed to pivot around the elbow. Most memorable, some guy riding a more gigantic Brahma bull then ever I imagined existed – like Mongol in the world’s greatest movie – followed by Barak Obama’s lost twin in a convertible, mayor of some other town around there. I yelled, “Barak Obama.” He looked around a bit sternly until he spotted me, then gave a wry smile and pointed his finger. He was followed, for some unknowable reason, unless it’s just because he offered to do it, by a George Bush look-alike. This mock-up was no slouch, a real pro with his career reaching for the bottom of the toilet. He was so authentic I felt like punching him. One guy got in just because he had a 70’s Eldorado convertible in pretty good shape. That was almost a float.