random thoughts – Day 1,719 – (Saturday) – yuletide market and parade

Kiki contemplating sunshine.

While I drank coffee and let the entire morning slip away, in between asking for head rubs, Kiki sat in a shaft of sunlight. Perhaps she was contemplating life. Or sunshine. Then, she did something I’ve never seen her do until today. She batted her stuffed fish toy around the dining room. It was a feline miracle at The BungaLowell. When she saw me watching her she stopped. Little Kiki seems to still be a little self-conscious. I get it. Happens to me too, Little Boo.

Besides rejoicing in Kiki playing with her toy, there were other things to be done today. The Saturday after Thanksgiving is the City of Lights event in Lowell so I spent the morning psyching myself up to leave the house. Before heading downtown, the tires needed air. The low-pressure sensor went off again earlier in the week. I am so over the temperature changes and the tire pressure. It took two stops to get the air because the air machine was out of service at the station where I got gas and I had to find another.

This year’s City of Lights event featured a Yuletide Market at JFK Plaza. Several heated tents housed art vendors, which were easier to browse than other events where the artists were all in one tent and it got really crowded. Several warming stations featured chairs and small campfire heaters. The Rotary Club had a toasted marshmallow station, there was a stage for bands, and there were likely more things I didn’t see. It was cold out, but not wicked cold.

Witches dance at the Yuletide Market.

After watching the New England Witches Guild perform three dances at 3:30, I walked over to The Brush Art Gallery and Studios to check out the member show I neglected to enter, this year’s edition of the Wreath Festival, and browse the artist studio shops. From there, it was back out to the cold. 

Walking the two blocks to Merrimack Street allowed time to decide if I would be staying for the parade at 4:30. The sidewalk had filled with people who had staked out their concrete real estate for the parade. I walked in the direction of the garage I parked in, which was also in the direction the parade would be coming from. 

UML Marching Band.

I ended up staying downtown. The parade began with the Lowell Police motorcycle squad and LPD vehicles, followed by the Fire Department. There were marching bands from Lowell High and UMASS Lowell and the musicians seemed to float down the street with the smooth marching band steps. 

The LHS ROTC cadets floated by in their tidy and crisp uniforms and twirled their blue rifles. There were Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. A dance troupe of the tiniest kids with metallic shakers executed precise footwork that was fancier than the marching band and military steps. There were floats scattered in.

After a half hour, I couldn't tell how much longer the parade would go, but my cell battery was definitely on the way out, and I was tired of standing there alone in the crowd of couples, friend groups, and families. It was time to head home.

Three hours after arriving home, I was sitting under a blanket and drinking Raspberry Zinger tea. I still hadn’t shaken the chill from outdoors, and can’t wait to go to bed. The current ideal combination of coverings is a top sheet, a puff, a handmade quilt, a duvet cover that is too difficult to put a blanket into but it is the covering where the bed and the room make sense, and a logo velour/sherpa blanket that was a work gift several years ago. I’m eager to test the comfort level again tonight.