To say that it was raining Tuesday morning when I got in my car and headed westward to our Main Street office would be an understatement. This was a letdown for me because I had been looking forward to the Independence Day parade in Wilmore for the past week.

The rain still wasn’t playing ball with us as Joe hopped in my car with me and we headed down the road. We got into Wilmore and parked ourselves under the awning in front of Sim’s drug store so that I could snap pictures of all of the parade entrants and Joe could carry out his plan to pocket that handful of candy that he thought I would be too busy to notice.

The rain continued as umbrellas began lining both sides of Main Street like dandelions in an unsprayed front yard. The water was running down the gutter ways like a healthy creek, which provided an entertaining distraction for a few of the younger spectators in the audience. Particularly one little guy who waded the stream all the way down the street like a little fly fisherman with blue tennis shoes on as opposed to hip waders. Those shoes could not have possibly held any more water, but his dad guided him on with a grin and a chuckle.

What’s a little water, right? That was the overriding theme of the parade this year, as the crowd lined the street—some under umbrellas, some beneath plastic ponchos and some rather damp folks under nothing but their dripping hair. All of them appeared to enjoy themselves.

The parade was fun. Though I would have liked a little more sunshine for picture purposes, the temperature was extremely pleasant. I have photographed summer parades before where I ended up much wetter than I did Tuesday from perspiration in the heat as opposed to rain.

The one real letdown of the event came at the expense of the Lawnmower Brigade, which was the one traditional parade entry that was omitted due to the weather. That was a shame, because I was looking forward to seeing them, and Marvin Bartlett from Fox 56 in Lexington came down with a video camera to film them for the evening news.

As the event got underway, the rain began tapering, but I doubt that anyone noticed anyway. Smiles were aplenty and candy was ample throughout the event. Regardless of the rain, I didn’t hear any complaints other than my own about how Justin Ray was the only county magistrate at the event in a star-spangled suit and coat. No Business Casual for Mr. Ray!

So I hope that everyone who didn’t make it to the 2017 Independence Day parade enjoys the pictures on our Neighbors page. As for the gentlemen and their lawn mowers, I am sorry that you didn’t make the page yourselves this year. However, I would be glad to take pictures of you on a sunny day. Contact me, and I will provide you with directions to my house and my yard, where you can fire up the machines and do your thing while I operate the camera!