Oktoberfest Parade 2011

Flowers, ox, horses, dirndls and keg after keg of beer. Some would say that these few things seem to sum up much of the Oktoberfest Parade but I disagree. It’s the little girl sitting on her father’s shoulders, the women counting down in German with her sons to listen for the official start of the fest. It’s the tourist with the crazy drinking shirt stating, “I survived Oktoberfest” even though the fest has not truly started, and the only thing  the shirt really means so early in the day is, “look at me I bought this in a tourist shop downtown!” It’s joining together in the “oohs” and “ahhs” as the wagons progress down the road and watching the polizei laugh as they enjoy the sunshine and sounds of the marching bands.

For me my first trip to the Oktoberfest parade means a tired arm as I hold my phone to video tape, hugs from Mr. C. and the sound of our friend Bill’s camera clicking away. It brings back a stalled wagon on the parade route that caused other wagons to roll so close to us to avoid the stall I thought I could touch them. It means a beautiful horse, decorated in it’s parade finery that I was able to reach out and pet as he eyed the crowd cautiously.

Supplies: Studio Calico kit Glee Club, white buttons, Martha Stewart butterfly punches, October Afternoon Boarding Pass sprinklers.

It is day’s like the Oktoberfest Parade that remind me of life’s beauty, of the happiness that can be found when we pause to look at life through the eyes of a happy glow. It’s easy to look at someone and think she must be happy because she has this, or he must be happy because he has been there…and these reflections can go on forever. If there is one thing I learn as I see more and more of the world it is that places, experiences, and possessions do not make a person happy. The soul, the core of who a person strives to be is what brings happiness.  Sometimes I have bad days where happiness seems more difficult to grasp, we all do… but then I stop to think of being in the midst of a crowd of thousands and pausing with a horse in the sunshine to reflect on the happiness of life. I realize that while sometimes difficult happiness is always within my reach if I simply reach out to take it.