I-I-I-I-I-I love a para-a-a-a-de!

My friend Lee Barker makes art, mechanical contraptions and other stuff from salvaged materials. He has enough of a local reputation that people also bring him things they want to get rid of or think he can use. Several years ago he started turning old riding mowers into art cars. He and his friends and family drive them in the Redmond, Oregon Independence Day parade. They had enough drivers so I walked along with them and tossed candy to the hundreds of kids lining the street. It was a fun time. Maybe Lee will transform a mower into a miniature Rolling Steel Tent.

 

Oh, and we had a special position in the parade: behind the sheriff’s department mounted posse. They had a cleanup crew, so it was mostly not a problem.