My family had the idea that we could spend a part of winter break in Pasadena to volunteer for the Rose Parade's decorations.
After driving down and picking up our name tags, we began helping the other coordinators.
Gluing down moss onto the float's base, carrying around pallets of flowers, crushing up seeds.
It was fun waddling around, climbing the scaffolding, seeing the engineers and drivers hop inside the floats.
The days passed quickly as the New Year's Eve deadline drew closer.
The performers got their uniforms ready. The judges looked cool in their sunglasses.
The huge dragon spewing out smoke and the spiraling Koi fishes all performing beautifully.
'Books Bring Dreams to Life'
'Rising Above'
We managed to return the next year to work on some more floats.
This time for Dreamwork's How to Train Your Dragon and Cal Poly's jazzy astronauts.
'How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World'
I got more practice on the scaffolding to reach the trickier spots on the float. After the seeds were done being glued, the florists taught me how to assemble the larger central bouquets.
Tidying up
And ready to go
Before we knew it, it was showtime.
Everything was musically lively. Marching bands practiced between runs. The traditional Taiwanese drummers were a favorite for the kids.
Portual. The Man performed live for us high above.
Portugal. The Man
'Far Out Frequency'
During our third year, we came to see the Sierra Madre's float with the Polynesian dancing club.
They had finished working on the floats sooner than usual so there wasn't much for me to do.
It was still fun seeing everyone admire the sculpted birds raising up.
'Ka La Hiki Ola' (Dawning of a New Day)
I haven't been able to revisit to help since then, after moving away for college.
Who knows, maybe I'll return for a future parade.
