Donna L Dolf: August 2014

Happy Labor Day! In Easton Harvest, the angels attend a Labor Day Parade. Here is an excerpt of the parade including some of the angels' antics:

The first in the parade were the Washington Union High School homecoming king and queen. They were riding in a red Mustang convertible covered with paper flowers sitting on the seat backs behind the driver. The queen looked lovely in a long pale blue gown; the king was wearing a tux. I bet they would be hot by the end of the parade.

The homecoming court was next on a purple and white float, followed by a flock of sheep and a herd of goats all mixed in together. There were as many kids as there were sheep and goats. Some enterprising person had put collars and leashes on the animals. There would be no escapees as long as the kids hung on to their charges. Some of the goats were rebelling – jumping up and down and pulling their handlers sideways. Once they started moving, the goats would likely settle down. The sheep just stood there like, well sheep waiting to be led.

The high school had commissioned “Village People” lookalikes to depict the many different occupations. It was after all “Labor Day.” We had policemen with batons and caps, firemen with short lengths of hoses, postmen with their letter bags, a baker carrying pastries wearing a tall white chef hat, cowboys and Indians aiming six-shooters and bows and arrows at each other, football players waiting impatiently for the first down, cheerleaders with pom-poms, a school teacher wearing a graduation gown and black-rimmed glasses or maybe she was a graduate, a student in a school uniform wearing a dunce hat, a dog catcher with a net and a tiny dog in tow, a fisherman with rod and reel, doctors with stethoscopes, nurses in uniforms with clip boards and what looked like thermometers, a few farmers with hoes, shovels and rakes and a petite dog walker with two Great Danes pulling her around. A few others were roaming around that I could not readily identify their occupation.

The Washington Union High School marching band was next. They were busy tuning up their instruments and it was a little unnerving listening to the various unorchestrated toots, booms and bells. They looked great in their purple, white, grey and black uniforms. The cheer-leading squad was practicing their stunts and a banner was leaning against a car proclaiming “Panther Pride.”

We had the real mounted police in their elaborate country style uniforms leading their decorated horses around the parking lot waiting to ride off when their turn to depart came.

A flat bed truck sponsored by Easton Feed Store was idling in line. It held bales of hay, bags of grain and a couple of scarecrows and early pumpkins carved into jack-o’-lanterns. A couple of pretty girls dressed like Daisy Duke were sitting on the bales of hay.

The mayor and council members were sitting in a black convertible waiting their turn.

A little girl had a lone pig on a leash. It was sitting on its butt, snorting and looking around. Seeing it walk on the leash would be funny.

A couple of kids were pulling wagons filled with melons, cantaloupes and a few gourds. One little girl had a wagon full of black and brown Labrador puppies. The puppies kept jumping out of the wagon and the little girl was chasing them around trying to round them up. A woman stood nearby laughing, watching the little girl. I would bet that was her mother and would be the one actually pulling the wagon.

There were a couple of floats displaying wares from other businesses in town; a float with car parts, one with flowers, and a daycare had its charges in the back of a pickup truck. It looked like the whole town was either participating or watching the parade.

After looking around and realizing it was really crowded in the high school parking lot, we walked back down the street to where we started at the Easton Drug Store where Mom and the Parade Committee had set up the refreshments. After all this walking a nice glass of iced tea would hit the spot.

Dad was sitting on the cab of his truck facing the bed, holding a glass of tea and wearing a baseball cap. He was waiting for the parade to start. Sitting up high as he was, he waved at us when we walked into the parking lot. Most of the ice chests were sitting on the ground behind the refreshment booth. Dad had been busy. Jason, Eric, Sonja and Jonathan ran across the parking lot and climbed into the back of the pick-up to watch the parade march down the street. With the angels under the Dad’s watchful eye in the back of the truck, Jerry and I stood near the curb in anticipation of the parade.

With Dot manning the refreshment stand, Mom already had her camera busy and was shooting photos of the crowd. There was just enough room next to us for Mom to squeeze in when the parade started. She was ready with a spare camera at her side in anticipation of the parade.

The parade moved slowly down the street. Mom stood next to a saw horse blocking entrance onto the street. Jerry watched her to make sure she didn’t dive under the saw horse and get in the way of the parade. I watched in amusement as he watched Mom.

When the high school’s representation of laborers, aka the Village People, wandered by, a black cat in a yellow collar was winding through their legs as they marched along. “Well, look at that,” I pointed at the cat as it continued winding through the high school kids’ legs. “I hope no one trips over it.”

“Looks like it darted into the crowd,” Jerry commented stretching to get a look at where the cat had ran.

“I don’t see it any more,” I responded.

Dad was also keeping an eye on Mom from the back of the pick-up. He knew she could get engrossed in her photography to the exclusion of everything else. Jason, Eric and Jonathan were standing in the back of the truck making comments on the costumes the high school kids were wearing. Sonja had crawled up onto the cab and was sitting next to Uncle Mike watching Jason, Eric and Jonathan. She didn’t seem at all interested in the parade.

“Hey, down in front,” Sonja loudly told Jason, Eric and Jonathan.

Jonathan, not familiar with Sonja’s brand of humor, squatted in the back of the truck so she would be able to see. “Don’t pay any attention to her,” Jason said waving dismissively behind him towards Sonja. “She’s always complaining about something.”

“I wouldn’t ignore her,” Eric cautioned. “Remember what she did to you the last time you didn’t pay attention?”

“That wasn’t fair,” Jason whined. “How was I supposed to know she didn’t give her socks to Cookie.” Jason grinned remembering tying Sonja’s socks together and playing tug-a-war with the determined little dog.

“She took all your socks, didn’t she?” Eric reminded him.

“Yeah, but I found them in a grain barrel in the garage where she hid them,” Jason laughed.

Jonathan looking bewildered, glanced back at Sonja wondering what she would do if Jason and Eric didn’t duck.

The mounted police horses were prancing by now and there were shouts from the crowd at the curb as the horses shook their heads up and down and waved their tails clearly enjoying being the center of attention. The lead officer was carrying a flag and the parade goers were applauding the red, white and blue.

“They’re really good looking horses,” Aunt Marian startled everyone as she stepped into the little group, her camera held at chest level ready for the next shot. “How’re you doing sweetheart?” she addressed Lauren glancing at Jonathan and Alan.

The Easton Feed truck rumbled by following the mounted police and the Daisy Duke look-a-likes sitting on the bales of hay were waving wildly at the crowd. A black cat was crouched between the bales and was looking around like it was bored.

“Hey, look at the black cat,” Eric excitedly exclaimed pointing at the truck as it slowly rolled down the street.

“There’s no cat on that truck,” Jason scoffed. “It’d jump off.”

“I saw a cat,” Eric defiantly stated crossing his arms. Lauren and Jonathan were standing on their tiptoes to see if they could see the cat. The truck was too far down the street already.

“Why don’t we move over to where Shelley and Deputy Jerry are watching the parade?” Aunt Marian inquired, turning to lead the way and ending the cat discussion.

Lauren grabbed her Dad’s hand and led him to the curb near Shelley and Deputy Jerry where Aunt Marian had stopped. Jason followed by Eric and Sonja and trailed by a dejected Jonathan stopped on the other side of Deputy Jerry.

“Hi guys. Are you enjoying the parade?” Deputy Jerry asked slipping an arm around Jonathan’s shoulders. Jonathan let out a held breath and relaxed; he gazed up at Deputy Jerry in appreciation. The pig on the leash was noisily walking by snorting as it pulled the little girl supposedly holding the leash. It looked more like the pig was walking the girl.

Uncle Mike had seen the group head for the curb and had dismounted from the truck and was slowing walking to the curb. He stopped and laid his arm over Aunt Marian’s shoulders and prepared to watch the parade.

The wagon of puppies was stopped in the middle of street with no puppies. Four or five clowns in wigs and big floppy shoes were rounding up the puppies that were running around in delight at the attention. The mom and daughter pulling the wagon were laughing at the playful little dogs.

The parade had stopped moving while the dogs were captured. Aunt Marian had moved a little into the street and was madly shooting frames. Deputy Jerry was eyeing her while Uncle Mike stood behind her ready to pull her to the curb if she got any further into the street. Shelley stood there grinning at her Mom and Dad and watching Jerry’s anxious face. Her parents were quite a pair. Dad let Mom do what she wanted or maybe that should be what she needed to do, but he was ready to reel her in if she forgot to take care.

The angels were yelling and shouting at the clowns and puppies. Lauren held her father’s hand in worry and Jonathan was watching Deputy Jerry in awe.

By the time the puppies were corralled and the rest of the parade swept by, the parade goers slowly returned to their vehicles and to their homes to enjoy the rest of the Labor Day holiday.

The big Labor Day Parade was over; now on to the Sanders’ barbeque.

Easton Harvest is scheduled to be published in October 2014. The Kindle version is available for pre-order on Amazon.com or click this link: http://amzn.to/1ChSfss.

Now that Easton Harvest is well on its way to the publisher, my thoughts have turned to the next volume in the Easton Series, tentatively entitled Easton Holiday.

Jason, Eric and Jonathan find they need help with trouble at school. They were on their best behavior; after all, Christmas was only a month away. What were they going to do? Every time something happened at school, one of them was called into the Principal’s office. Someone was going out of their way to frame the angels. They knew they weren't at fault, but the Principal, the Vice-Principal, well, all the teachers thought they were the school bandits. And now Aunt Marian and Uncle Mike were beginning to believe the lies. Their only hope was that Deputy Jerry and Shelley would discover the truth.

I thought it would be fun to get help from the Easton Series followers to name the antagonists and have a contest. I am looking for three or four names to work into the book. I have no deadline yet, so please signup for my Easton Angel Newsletter and let me have your suggestions. I will let everyone know the deadline when it is established. I will send the winners of the contest a copy of Easton Holiday when it is published.

Remember these are 13 to 15 year olds. Although the angels are boys, the antagonists do not need to be male. I can't wait see your suggestions!