St. Patrick's Day Parade

(Photo by BobbaLew.)

We did not march our Irish Setter in the St. Patrick's Day parade in Rochester yesterday (Saturday, March 13, 2010).
The picture above is from two or three years ago, when the sun shone on the parade.
But when I fired up my MyCast® weather-radar on this computer, I could see a gigantic green rain-shield quickly approaching Rochester.
So we consulted our dog.
Which would it be? -A) Stand around for hours in a cold rain waiting for the parade to start, followed by three miles of sheer terror threading a screaming crowd and staggering drunks guzzling beer, skirling bag-pipes in front, wailing sirens to the rear; or -B) Hunting critters at Boughton Park.
Her answer was obvious; I had a jumping-bean in my face.
“Park! Park! Take me to the park! Let's boogie!”
“But it's your duty as an Irish Setter to march in the St. Patrick's Day parade.”
“Park! Park! Take me to the park! Let's boogie!”
We have marched in that parade four times over the past five years.
Once was a blizzard; we didn't go.
The crowd loves it. “Oh look, Maudy; the Irish Setters. I want one! Can I pet your dog?”
“Yippee! Discarded hot-dog rolls. CHOMP! Found food is always best.”
First time was in front of Metro Ambulance; sirens at full wail.
Second time was behind a dusty black extended '57 Chevy sedan, crammed with buxom young tarts sporting green metallic hair.
Last year was behind little girls dancing the Irish jig atop a big flat-bed trailer to music boomed through large speaker-horns.
My start blogging goes back to my report on that first parade five years ago.
Volunteer firemen were openly urinating on the lawns of East Ave. gentry.
I encountered a big mustachioed lug in a kilt quaffing a large tankard of foaming amber. Goosebumps were on his knees.
Last year at parade-end we overheard people in the crowd.
“Okay, we've seen the Irish Setters. Can we go home now?”

• “Scarlett” is our current dog; a rescue Irish-Setter. She’s almost five, and is our sixth Irish-Setter. (A “rescue Irish Setter” is an Irish Setter rescued from a bad home; e.g. a puppy-mill. By getting a rescue-dog, we avoid puppydom, but the dog is often messed up. Scarlett isn't too bad; just not socialized.)
• “Metro Ambulance” is a private supplier of ambulance service in Rochester. Ambulance service in Rochester is not public.
• “East Ave.” is a main street from downtown to the eastern border of Rochester. It has many ritzy residences.