In Elementary school, we learned a lot of little patriotic songs. Without question, the one which has served me best throughout my life has been 50 Nifty United States (being able to recite all of the states in alphabetical order is a skill everyone should have.) However, today while attending the Cherry Blossom Parade a different song came back to my mind. There is something so iconic about parades - trotting out our servicemen and leaders while the cheering community crowds together on our sidewalks and streets. Perhaps it's because I generally only attend parades on July 4th (and 24th in Utah) that they make me feel so patriotic.
There is a little song that sings, "What's more American than (insert something semi-American here, like hot dogs or baseball)" I remember Daniel and I went through the typical elementary school phase of trying to make up really funny (to us) lyrics, throwing in whatever dorky thing we could think of.
So let's play a little 'What's More American than' game here with today's parade:
What's more American than the military?
What's more American than a bald eagle?
What's more American than marching bands?
I loved the cherry blossom stickers on all of the drums!
What's more American than color guard? 
What's more American than baton twirling? 
What's more American than cheerleaders? 
Side note - in the 9th grade I had an amazing geography teacher named Mrs. Cox. She brought in excerpts of world georgraphy books she had obtained from other countries - what they learned about us. I remember reading the section on cheerleaders, where they described them as girls with pom poms and knee high white boots. I thought that was the weirdest thing, because none of the cheerleaders at high schools in Utah wore white boots. Today nearly all of the girls with the marching bands had white knee high boots on! Perhaps it's a regional thing?
What's more American than...a football player riding in a horse drawn carriage?
What's more Ameri-wait a minute!
What's more American than enormous balloon animals? 
What's more American than clowning around in public? 
What's more American than rodeo princesses?
What's more American than the preserving your cultural traditions? 
What's more American than pageantry and roller derby? Done together would be even better... 
What's more American than unicycling down the Oregon trail? 
What's more American than nostalgia? 
(Should she be using such a modern device while riding on parade in that car?)
What's more American than Little Bo Peep? 
What's more American than swing dancing? 
What's more Washingtonian than cherry blossoms in the Spring? 
If you're familiar with the song, you probably thought I was going to say something cheesy at the end of this post like, "I am, I am, I am!"
But you'd be wrong. The actual answer is Miss America.
Labels: Around DC, Where we go