Rebuild from Depression Blog

The parade began at 10 am but there was no overnight camping for a good spot on the sidewalk to watch the parade. In fact, there were no sidewalks to worry about. We discovered that you could arrive at 9:50 am and still get shade parking in the heart of parade festivities. You might miss the $2 breakfast burritos but if you are on a grain-free diet, that is not necessarily a bad thing.

At just after 10 am, the Sheriff's Deputy led the group in the Star Spangled Banner. 4-H members then led the parade on bicycles or scooters. Two girls travel on foot walking their dogs. I watched the 4-H members come around the bend.

"Are we going a second time?" the children asked as they ended the parade loop.

"Yes!" I shouted. "One more loop!" Other adults began to direct them up the hill to do the parade again. "You're doing a second loop," I shouted as cars reached my vantage point at the end of the parade loop. I am sure the actual parade organizers appreciated my display of leadership.

After the children passed, I noticed in the distance a red jeep with Norma, the bartender at the local cowboy bar The Rabbit Foot, dressed in a red clown wig and sitting in the jeep like the Fourth of July queen waving to the crowd.

The front of the jeep bore a sign: "Grand Marshall."

"Perfect!" I laughed to myself. I really do think like a mountain cowboy.

Following the Grand Marshall were a selection of antique cars, including one with passengers in dress period to the car, the county, state, and federal fire trucks, the volunteer patrol for the Sheriff's Department, and the volunteer ambulance service. Some folks rode ATVs and others road horses. My favorite horses had red, white, and blue stars painted on their hind-ends.

Julie road her horse with her baby Rowdy on her hip. Julie was my "due date buddy" back in December, due just a day or two before me. Rowdy is two weeks older than Alastair and also share their ability to confuse everyone with their names. "Alastair? She she is precious. Did you make that name up?" "Rowdy? Is that a name or a comment on his behavior?"

As the parade ended, one fire truck stayed to provide us with picture opportunities. Two horse riders made their horses available to children for riding. Frederick had a great time.

As we drove home exhausted from the heat and the activity, we passed The Rabbit Foot and saw the Grand Marshall jeep parked right outside. The parade really ended right there at that cowboy bar. Next year perhaps I'll direct all of the parade traffic that way. "Do one more loop then head to the bar for beer! No, I don't have a cold one here in my baby carrier!"

Giveaway winner

In all of this excitement and in the presence of a teething baby, I only just drew a name in the ongoing supplement give-away. If you have been reading the announcements, you may know that Pilar expressed skepticism that she could ever winner having only left a comment. Diane, for instance, earned a whole lot of points "friending" me on Facebook, posting a story on her blog about this blog, and just about everything else except put something on "Stumble Upon." It turns out that Marjorie won the first drawing with only a comment and our next two winners also won only by leaving a comment. Each time I have mentioned that if you were going to put money on any particular person winning, you would want to bet on Diane. However, so many people are entered just with a comment that sole-commenters are still the most likely winners. In any case, the last three people have won simply by posting a comment.

All that said, our experiment continues.

Drum roll please.....

The winning ticket says: "Diane FB." This is shorthand for "Diane's ticket she earned by friending me on Facebook."

Of course, I laughed out loud when I read the ticket. Diane at the Peaceful Acres blog needs to contact me within a week of this post to claim her prize. I suggest she also give a speech here in the comments. :) Diane won the brain-building package of Omega 3 oil, B complex, and magnesium.

Join the contest if you haven't already. Leave a comment on this blog anywhere about anything. That's it. I will put your name in the colander of tickets for the giveaways all through July. The next winner gets the desiccated liver product (the Ultra 40 product listed on this page). You can earn more tickets like Diane by doing any of the following:

• Friend me or follow me on Facebook(here) or Twitter(here): 1 point each
• Stumble this entry, one of the food science pages, or anything that has caught your fancy.: 1 point.
• In Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, or LinkedIn provide a link to some of the content here (see the recent food science post for a lot of ideas): 1 point
• Provide a link to this contest from your blog: 2 points (but gosh, this just increases your competition, LOL)
• Blog about some of the content on this website (see the recent food science post for a lot of ideas or check FoodGraphs.net): 3 points

Have a great holiday everyone!