After the Parade Passes You By

The past two weeks have been hectic, to say the least, for everyone celebrating Christmas followed by the close of 2014. In our house, like everywhere else, there is that constant balancing act of…time, events, family, work and everything that falls between. All these needs are woven into a fabric called “life”.

At Christmas time, and the week that follows, family gatherings usually focus, at some point, on Christmas’ and New Year’s past traditions and loved ones… things that seem somewhat less important overall to our today’s plugged-in society. But, to many, there is a whole host of traditions that are kept alive.

The Rose Parade people in Pasadena have put those floats to bed by now. For 48 hours after the big show, they are on display in a park-like setting of residential streets to allow the curious an opportunity to view them close at hand. Within a few feet you are able to see the handiwork of thousands...high school students, retirees, church groups; volunteers of all sorts. Traditions abound at the float barns. Some of these floats are massive and multi-sectional. You walk all around them, talk to the float handlers, sponsors and affiliates and just admire.

Families book their vacations, decorate the floats, view the parade and BRAG with pride how they decorated that one little section…and it took four days.

Painstakingly, these “workers” attached single petals of flowers to the appointed spot…Massive blooms of every type imaginable as well as handfuls of coconut, rice, straw flowers and other vegetation are used. The varied materials are not tinted to get the exact hue as imagined by the designer but must be natural.

Dried bark, seaweed and wide grasses (some that have been ironed flat) are woven together and pasted to form intricate designs for baskets and used to cover supporting frames and structures so they don’t stand out. The intricate use of various seeds in the floragraphs has taken hours by these decorators over the past month and the results…unbelievable. Even the name of the sponsors and the theme or name of each float is not painted but hand decorated…then attached just before delivery to the pre-parade setup areas.

The resulting visual effects are stunning on our HD television displays…but seeing these objects in the glowing sunshine on an early California morning…perhaps breathtaking is the right description. The use of seeds, the varieties of rice and other material when combined with the digital images of today, has produced a new wave in float decorating technique and design.

It’s called a floragraph. These picture floral images were widely seen this year front and centre. For me the most moving was the float recognizing worldwide Ebola First Responders and honouring two dedicated Ebola workers, stricken with the disease while helping others to cope and heal. The tragedy of those deaths was honoured, with their families in attendance on the float, having had their floragraph images revealed to them, just days before.

Again this year, like last, the largest collection of floragraphs appeared on the “Donate Life” float. The message is clear. Organ donations work. Riding on their float were people who have had their lives extended, their lifestyles changed and they had others to thank. Walking alongside the float, I noticed a large number of men and women wearing shirts that said “Live Donor”…recognition for an unselfish act.

Last year, our hotel was the base for the “Donate Life” float organizers. There was a constant stream of people supporting each other. Most wore photo badges of their loved ones who had donated. An equal number of recipients and their families were also there...some also sporting photos of their “givers”. They were all decorating their float together.  The floragraphs on the float are based upon photographs provided by families of the donors. It’s a way that this organization puts a face to recognize the human need and the sacrifice made by others. There website currently explains 123,000 men women and children are waiting for organs in the U.S. alone, and thousands more require tissue and cornea donations to restore sight and mobility.

Standing in the warm sun, last year, with the San Gabriel mountains shimmering in the backdrop while next to the Donate Life float, I realized something was missing…all the floragraphs….there had been many.  They were missing…gone…but why, where?.  I asked the float handler. As a final gesture of thanks, he said that they had all been turned over to those donor’s families.

HAKUNA MATATA---SIGN YOUR DONOR CARD!     

Ahead: Back on Track now that the Holidays are over