The Annual Buena Vista Labor Day Parade

My cellphone buzzed about 8 this morning as I ran past the Arrowhead Lodge mailbox.  That's where we can usually count on a signal.  I was on my way to my daily meeting.  Yes, even I have meetings on Labor Day, no rest for the weary.  Otherwise, I'll never have my part in the Hans Gal Piano Trio anywhere close to ready by the Arrowhead Trio's concert on September 26.

The phone message went something like this:  "Hello, this is Ms. X. You wondered if it would be all right to drive your car in the parade today.  Sure, come join us."

Mine was a wrong number, but it got me thinking.  Maybe next year I'll show up -- in a solar-powered battery mobile, with a few signs, including:

"Who is James Pannabecker?"
"Drink Goat Milk"
"Victory Gardens"
"Make Your Own Cheese"
"Write and Mulch"
"Read"
"Make Music, Not War" (to quote the bumper sticker of Rockbridge Music)
"Let Donkeys Vote"

"Don't forget 'Who's Virginia?'" says Virginia.

I thought of that, but this is a political parade.  The governor and at least one senator were there.  If I start showing up every year, begin to establish a reputation and a following, perhaps when I'm 95, after most of the witnesses to my checkered past are out of commission, I could run for Congress.