Sorry it has been a while since our last post. With all the excitement of the holidays and a DIY solar installation on our trailer, things were pretty hectic during the month of December. We hope everyone had a wonderful time over the holidays, and that the new year is being good to you.
We’ll jump back in time today to Memorial Day, 2018, shortly after our arrival to work camp in Mackinaw City. We felt like we had barely settled into our new jobs and our new home, when our neighbors (who became dear friends) asked if we wanted to ride to town with them for the Memorial Day parade. We piled into their pickup and found a parking spot right in the heart of Mackinaw City, just off of the main street where the parade procession would pass.
The campground we were working for, Mackinaw Mill Creek Camping (get campground info here), has a fleet of antique fire trucks and some unique novelty vehicles built by one of the owners, that they enter into the parade every year. Now, we thought we were going to cheer on our bosses and co-workers. What we didn’t realize was that we were actually going to become part of the parade! We walked over to the staging area and were told to hop onboard one of the many vehicles they had brought over.
One of the first things that struck me about the parade, having come from a big city, is that the people who saved spots by leaving their chairs along the street and on the sidewalk didn’t have to worry about them being moved or stolen. Everyone seemed to respect each others’ space and belongings, and everyone appeared to be having a lot of fun and getting along really well.
The next thing I noticed was how packed the sidewalks were along the parade route. Mackinaw City has a permanent population of less than 600 residents. It looked like everyone from the surrounding towns had come to see the parade.
Finally, it warmed my heart to see just how patriotic everyone was. In an age of such divisiveness, it made me happy to see good people coming together to celebrate and remember all those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. It really does do a heart good to be reminded that we have more in common than we have differences.
As the fire trucks rolled out of the staging area to follow the parade procession, the crowd waved and cheered (and some of our fellow work campers who had come to watch good-naturedly laughed and pointed), we smiled and waved back to the crowd, celebrating our first holiday in our new, if temporary, home town.
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