Founding Fathers Of Funk: The Guru Crew

 

 

 

 

In my last post I talked about traditions -- the smaller, the better. This is yet another example of guru girl recommending something she doesn’t always do herself. Because we have traditions around here, and our all-time favorite one involves marching in the 4^th of July parade.

I defy anyone to find a more elaborate, time-consuming tradition. And yet, we do it. Year after year. We enlist various friends and family members to help out. Some of them have driven the car. Some have thrown candy. Once, our friend Hannah even posed as the Statue of Liberty and submitted to green face paint.

Being in the parade is a family tradition. It’s only grown more complex as the Dynamic Duo have grown older. We no longer march. We dance. The last few years our theme has been “Founding Fathers of Funk”. There is elaborate choreography, an amp and the blaring of a Neil Diamond/Nikki Minaj mashup.

Parade preparation always involves arguments. Sometimes the 10 year old’s choreography is too complex, and my fella doesn’t always learn it immediately. This makes the choreographer angry.

One year they banned the throwing of candy from the floats. We did it anyway (as did everyone else). This made Grandma Guru angry.

But in the end – all drama aside – the parade is always worth it. Despite the fact that we’ve never won first place or the accompanying prize: a six pack of soda from the local grocery store.

We’ve won something greater.

The 10 year old would say it’s the right to charge $2 to every person who asks to pose with our Founding Fathers backdrop. (This is untrue, as we will not allow our budding entrepreneur to do this.)

With the parade, we’ve won an experience that we share and value and talk about all year in an effort to improve our offering and finally, finally win the Mountain Dew.  

It offers a sense that we’re in this together, no small feat in a world that has families together but apart, thanks to ever-multiplying activities and gadgets.

I think the founding fathers would be all about small town parades and the families who participate in them. Life, liberty and the pursuit of funk.

Now that’s guru good.