Onion Slices

This weekend Julie and I went to the Fremont Fair. We had an awesome time watching the parade, and we ended up going on what Julie considered a "death march" as we walked all over the place.

As part of turning this into an adventure, we didn't drive all the way down to the fair. Instead we parked downtown and rode the bus! The Puget Sound area has an AWESOME transit system and we've been meaning to start using it for quite a while now. It's never been quite convienient, but this time I was determined to ride the bus! We parked and then walked around a bit, got Julie a bite to eat, then hunkered down to wait. We managed to miss one bus while cleaning up from the meal, but it was PACKED, so I was willing to wait for the next one. Lucky for us, the next one ended up being a shuttle to the fair and completly empty! It was quite a nice ride (:

Once we were at the fair, I was happy to see that we were just in time to watch the parade. I was having a great time watching the people go by, dressed in crazy outfits and expressing themselves to the world. We watched this for a bit (about 40 minutes) then decided to walk around. We ended up walking down the parade route to the end, then went back up to the actual fair portion where we started.

We tried to walk around the fair a bit, but it was WAY crowded and nothing was really of interest to me. Not to sound too rude, but there was just nothing that I would want to buy, or even look at, for that matter. I'm just not into anything hemp, made in Nepal or that I couldn't wear to work (and considering the freedom I have at work, it takes quite a bit for me to be put off). I gave up wanting to see things when I was stopped in the middle of the street by a couple that was jamming out to some stree musicians. Well, I was actually stopped by all the people with cell phones and cameras trying to get video of the couple jamming out. I decided that I think it was time to pull a Dave Robichaux and beat feet in retreat back to home.

Catching the bus back downtown was a bit more difficult, since we didn't know what stop we needed to get on, but I wasn't worried. Julie and I were in no hurry (: We made it back to the car very quickly and made our way back to the East Side. Stopping only for a haircut and some bubble tea, we ended a nice day out!

One of the things that I was thinking about this weekend is how important it is to learn to express yourself. I know that many people teach kids to express themselves and be true to themselves and all that jazz, but it is much more important, I think, to understand that there is a time and a place to do that. At the Fremont Fair, it is a great time to dress in body paint and wander up and down the street giving hugs. At school, not so much. It's is VERY important for all of us to have an escape valve, but it needs to be used at a time and a place that you won't hurt others or yourself when you let off that steam.