Day 268

Homecoming.

Football and fancy dresses. Kings, queens, rallies, corsages, and a sophomore's first formal dance. Putting on face paint and screaming at the top of your lungs along with the cheerleaders at the football game.

oh, and the parade of course.

I don't even know if a Homecoming parade is a regular occurrence in other towns. But my town faithfully marches all of it's sports groups down our main street and in front of the high school the Thursday night before the Homecoming game, and it has for at least the last 25 years.

It starts with the Homecoming Court, which I must say was quite eclectic this year. I only caught glimpses of them as I arrived a few minutes late, but what I did see was refreshingly different than the "typical" court of my younger days. There were boys in football jerseys of course, but also one in a band uniform and others in dress clothes. The girls were a colorful array of skin color, hair color, and dress clothes. It was refreshing to see that such a large student body had nominated such a diverse court. I look forward to seeing who gets to wear the crown.

The vast majority of the parade was filled with sports teams of all ages wearing their orange and black:

- The tennis team, in their cute and stylish skirts threw tennis balls instead of candy at the crowd
- The cheerleaders were in full force, from Kindergarten to Seniors. That's a lot of sparkly hair bows in one place.
- The cross country team needed two trucks and trailers to carry all of them. They were all skinny with long legs, and upon seeing me standing to the side with my running gear on, ear buds, and phone strapped to my arm- whooped out a, 'Hey runner!" and threw me a handful of candy.
- The girl's soccer teams were in full force, taking three trailers- soccer is King in my town. Lean yet muscular, these are the girls that you don't want to mess with. Girls soccer is no joke- they are many times rougher than boys on the field. They are still girls though, and had all done their hair to match each other- yes I did notice.
- The girl's volleyball teams, who are dear to my heart, passed by. That was my favorite sport. I almost waved, then caught myself before the girls had to wonder who the creepy lady waving and cheering  at them was...
- The dance teams and show choirs had their moment, dressed in their beautiful, shiny outfits and smiling their best stage smiles.
- And of course, the football teams. Again, kindergarten through high school was represented, and you could almost smell the testosterone in the air.

There were other great floats and groups, including the German club and individual floats for the sophomores, juniors, and seniors. I remember riding on the senior float my last year in high school, screaming and being silly with my friends as we celebrated our last hoorah as teenagers.

So tonight's picture represents High School memories and Homecomings. Hopefully the seniors will have a win to celebrate tomorrow night, and hopefully all of them will have a safe evening full of memories on Saturday.