“The great thing about doing this, is all the old friends you run into, and the new ones you meet”, Ruby said to Daisy, as they were enjoying their pancakes. It was the first leg of their firmly packed itinerary of activities, and they both had already encountered people they knew and exchanged greetings. From there it was a quick walk through the flea -market, where they encountered more friends and Ruby put some money down on a race-duck.
The parade was scheduled to begin at 10 o’clock, so they got their chairs and found a place to sit in front of the Community Church. They were next to a group of small children who were busily collecting the candy and small coins being thrown from the floats. Ruby and "Daisy helped them out. They did not know which entries won prizes, but the “Ruby and Daisy Award”went to the float with the giant hot dog and the Doctor with the colonoscope, followed by a team of children dressed as colon polyps!
Next they headed to the main-street, which had been closed down for a car show. “Daisy” took pictures for her TV show, while Ruby browsed through the shiny vehicles, each with their own unique appearance. Their engine compartments were cleaner that most kitchens. Ruby and “Daisy” ran into several more of their friends while they were browsing They had their lunch at an outoor café before moving on to their next activity.
Former pediatrician and acquaintance of both Ruby and Daisy, Moro Peatfinger, has written a play called “Lardo A. Water, Timber Baron”. Ruby and Daisy had tickets for the 2 o’clock performance. It was about the conception and birth of the town of Bywater, and it was anything but boring. It ran the list of human emotions and had a very strong Christian message as well. The ladies were pleased.
They went from the play to a movie called “The Notebook.”. They arrived slightly late and missed the very beginning, but that did not deteriorate the story, which was one of true love reaching trough the years. They throughly enjoyed the movie. Their faces were damp and their eyes were red as they left the theater.
Back at the lake bank Ruby and Daisy bought hamburgers at one of the food booths and joined a large group of Ruby’s relatives as they gathered to cheer Mungo on in the Battle of the Bands. They sang and clapped along. They were highly impressed by Mungo’s guitar solos. At the end of the performance the group was asked to play one more... which they did. Ruby was blown away by the strong vocals.
The final stop of the day’s activities was primarily an experiment. “I have never been to a beer garden before”, said Ruby. “Me neither.” Daisy replied. Although neither of them particularly cared for beer, they decided to go, in order to make the day complete.
They arrived and parked the car and followed others into a large, boarded off area patrolled by constables. There were no chairs, and very few tables, no music, just beer, some food, and people,people,people. The ladies were immediately disappointed. “I thought this was a garden, where are the flowers?” Daisy said. There would have been no room for flowers, the crowd was way to thick and to Ruby and Daisy it seemed to consist of teenaged children. They went to a booth and obtained a beer token. “What a lovely blue token this is” said Ruby, attempting to put a positive spin on things. They obtained their beer and stood in the suffocating crowd for a while. They attempted mingling. They ran into a couple of people they knew, but conversation was difficult. The crowd was too thick, and noisy. “I want to go”, said Ruby. “Daisy” readily agreed, and feeling like salmon swimming upstream, they struggled through the crowd back to the car. “I don’t get it”, said Ruby.
It had been a wonderful day otherwise, and the ladies decided that even though the beer garden was not their favorite, it made them laugh as they thought of the experience. They went home and relaxed. They had done everything they had set out to do that day, and enjoyed the presence of friends at each one.
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