Sunday the 17th, October 2010. I walked outside to go pick up my produce box down the street and there’s some kind of parade (or something) on my street! There’s a Catholic church on the next block, so I blame them. There were priests in tall purple pointy hats, incense balls being waved about, a tall, short, float of some kind, and a band playing weirdly somber music, as it was a marching band, wearing marching band uniforms (and I usually expect perkier music from such).
People were standing along the sidewalk, blocking the sidewalk, and not moving out of my way while I was obviously trying to just get by them and go on with my errand. I was trying to just walk, but risked knocking over old women and children at every step if I wasn’t careful, and people were very indignant at my audacity to try to walk along the sidewalk on the street where I reside.
Hey, everybody has a right to whatever religious function, or whatever, on any given day. They had police blockades for traffic control, and the whole thing was just a block long. But, hey, I live here, and I needed to get on with my business. I was 20 minutes late for work because I had to get past them twice and it was no mean feat to do it.
But what the hell was it? Anyone know of a Catholic function on Sunday the 17th, that would have prompted some kind of parade? People didn’t seem particularly festive, but then Catholics aren’t known to have boisterous ceremonies, even if they are supposed to be happy.
I tried the church’s website, but they’re a bit lax in updating it seems. The last function listed was in September. I grew up Catholic, and went to Catholic schools for 12 years. I recall nothing of this sort ever happening!