A Whirlwind Evening

Tonight was the the night of the 2005 Rose Parade for the city of Roseville. Thanks to my many exploits of the past year, I was one of two junior grand marshals. It had been raining on and off all day, and it was looking like the storm would pass to our north. We were to be pulled in a carriage by 2 donkeys right behind the celebrity grand marshall Marty Sertich, a Roseville Alum who was the NCAA hockey MVP (Hobie Baker Award) this year. At 6:30, the parade started, with the weather holding tenuously. At 6:35 the wind shifted. At 6:36, it was raining. At 6:38, it was pouring. 6:39 tornado sirens drove everyone indoors and canceled the parade. Because we were riding in a donkey carriage, we were the last ones to come in from the rain, soaked but exhilarated. Later, the parade celebrities migrated to the Oval, the world's largest sheet of outdoor refrigerated ice, at least during the winter, and a skate park/conference building during the summer. There, amongst the sundry parade royalties of different cities, I was, to my surprise, knighted by the St. Paul Winter Carnival Royalty. Back story: St. Paul carnivals are a battle between the Court of Borius (north wind) and the Vulcan Order (guardians of heat/summer). The main event is the Winter Carnival: "the 10 best days of winter", which competes with the Minneapolis Aquatennial: "the 10 best days of summer". People here take this very seriously. To be knighted is a big deal. I was pleased.
Until Later,
Michael