From third grade into my second year of college at Cal Tech, I lived two blocks from the Rose Parade route, near its end. This was always a big day in our family, the neighborhood filled with tourists (some of whom would brazenly park and camp wherever they found empty space, including our lawn), a gigantic city festival and party in gear. As a kid I loved it, especially when we got to sleep on the street overnight to save parade spots (chaperoned, of course). I can get nostalgic watching the parade on television today.
When I first came to Portland and saw its summer "rose parade" I had to laugh. Nothing like the Granddaddy of parades, no siree. When I visited Pasadena after decades away, I surprised myself by feeling like I'd come home. I think it was the view of the brown San Gabriel Mountains, visible from any spot in town, including my bedroom window, perhaps most spectacularly from the Rose Bowl.
The Rose Bowl game was a big deal, too, usually watched on TV. My favorite RB experience was years later, as a grad student at the Univ. of Oregon, when I watched Stanford-Michigan (1970) with a friend, John Basham (R.I.P.), from Michigan. Jim Plunkett was the Stanford QB at the time. Michigan had a significant halftime lead, as I recall, and Plunkett came back in the second half on fire, Stanford finally winning.
Yes, I had a good childhood and it's good to remember it today.
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