Smalltown, USA

Being in the service of others is hard work. There are just people out there you don't give a damn to work for or represent. Thank God for patriotism and a sense of duty because everyone really should have a chance.

I went to the parade yesterday. I only go every so often now since I was a kid when we went all the time. It was a tradition - wake up early, have pancake breakfast at the church down the street, and watch the parade go down Main Street. It still has that small town feel and some of the same floats as it did 20 years ago, but you see it with a whole different set of eyes when you're an adult. Hokey as some of it is, I couldn't help but feel that there was something just undeniably American about it.