I love this day

I had one of those really clarifying moments today.

I was in the midst of raking leaves when my neighbor (from afar) said something about a parade coming down the street.

My first reaction was, "Huh?"

My second was to go to the front of the house to check things out.

Sure enough, I saw three cop cars blocking off the street and heard a drum cadence in the near distance.

I grabbed my pup at that point and sat on my tiny little porch in T-Town to watch a local high school's homecoming parade.

It had everything. A band. Cheerleaders. Homecoming queen and king. Even all the foreign language clubs had vehicles from which they were screaming and chanting.

I don't know what it was about that parade, but I was completely in a state of euphoric bliss. It was one of those great moments, in the midst of a seemingly long drought of good fortune, that made me tear up time and time again for absolutely no apparent reason.

I've never been a huge fan of parades before. Now, though, I think they'll always take me back to this day. To this feeling. Of utter happiness and unwavering hope.