The July 4, 2024 Parade in Washington, D.C. in pictures!

Honoring the Folds of Honor in the 2024 Independence Day Parade, Washington, D.C./By Patricia Leslie

The Chaparral High School Marching Band from Las Vegas, NV in the 2024 Independence Day Parade, Washington, D.C./By Patricia Leslie

What would a parade be without the Clydesdales?  Thank you, Budweiser! In the 2024 Independence Day Parade, Washington, D.C./By Patricia Leslie
 

Troop 55 from Great Falls, VA, chartered by St. Francis Episcopal Church, National Capital Area Council in the 2024 Independence Day Parade, Washington, D.C./By Patricia Leslie

Beauties on parade, July 4, 2024 Washington, D.C./By Patricia Leslie

Waconia High School Marching Band, Waconia, MN in the 2024 Independence Day Parade, Washington, D.C./By Patricia Leslie

He is? Representing the Netherlands in the Euro Bowl? In the 2024 Independence Day Parade, Washington, D.C./By Patricia Leslie

This group represented areas in and around Seattle who not only played music but stopped to perform, too, in the the 2024 Independence Day Parade, Washington, D.C./By Patricia Leslie

This group represented areas in and around Seattle who not only played music but stopped to perform, too, in the 2024 Independence Day Parade, Washington, D.C.  

"Jump when I say jump! 

"You put your right foot in, you take your right foot out, you put your right foot in and you shake it all about! You do the hokey pokey and you turn yourself around; that's what it's all about!""/By Patricia Leslie

These thirsties didn't get the message that D.C. had an areawide alert to boil water. At the 2024 Independence Day Parade, Washington, D.C./By Patricia Leslie

In the 2024 Independence Day Parade, Washington, D.C./By Patricia Leslie

Bolivian dancers in the 2024 Independence Day Parade, Washington, D.C./By Patricia Leslie

Would you walk a mile in these shoes?  She did in the 2024 Independence Day Parade, Washington, D.C./By Patricia Leslie

Sikhs love America and marched in the 2024 Independence Day Parade, Washington, D.C./By Patricia Leslie

Sikhs in the 2024 Independence Day Parade, Washington, D.C./By Patricia Leslie

John Marshall High School's Lawyers from Cleveland, OH marched in the 2024 Independence Day Parade, Washington, D.C./By Patricia Leslie

It'll be here before you know it but now you have the date for the 2025 National Cherry Blossom Festival: Mar. 20 - Apr. 13.  You sure about that late date? Climate change has the blossoms flowering long before March 20! In the 2024 Independence Day Parade, Washington, D.C./By Patricia Leslie

The Gotta Swingers were dancin' in the street in the 2024 Independence Day Parade, Washington, D.C./By Patricia Leslie

What would a parade be without the Falun Dafa? At the 2024 Independence Day Parade, Washington, D.C./By Patricia Leslie

The Falun Dafa had straight lines in the 2024 Independence Day Parade, Washington, D.C./By Patricia Leslie

George and Martha?? Couldn't be since vehicles weren't around in the 18th century. But who's counting? The 2024 Independence Day Parade, Washington, D.C./By Patricia Leslie

Bring on the dogs! In the 2024 Independence Day Parade, Washington, D.C./By Patricia Leslie

At the 2024 Independence Day Parade, Washington, D.C./By Patricia Leslie

The Deuel High School Marching Cardinals from Cedar Lake, SD in the 2024 Independence Day Parade, Washington, D.C./By Patricia Leslie

The Dev Garjana Percussion Band from Chantilly, VA in the 2024 Independence Day Parade, Washington, D.C./By Patricia Leslie

At parade's end, crowds gathered to enter the cool Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, Washington, D.C. but no one jumped in the water (at last sighting)/By Patricia Leslie

A side show on 12th Street, N.W. after the 2024 Independence Day Parade, Washington, D.C./By Patricia Leslie

A side show on 12th Street, N.W. after the 2024 Independence Day Parade, Washington, D.C./By Patricia Leslie

A side show on 12th Street, N.W. after the 2024 Independence Day Parade, Washington, D.C./By Patricia Leslie

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July 4, 2019 on the National Mall with signs of the times

Trump at the CodePink tent at the National Mall July 4, 2019. By the time I arrived, the weather had put a stop to the Trump Blimp...aaarrrggggghhh/Photo by Patricia Leslie
 
The Washington Monument resembles a photo below on the National Mall, July 4, 2019/Photo by Patricia Leslie

The sign on the left of the cage reads: "Cage Trump    Not Babies" and the one in front: "Investigate Trump Taxes." A man sat in a lawn chair nearby to guard the cage at the National Mall July 4, 2019/Photo by Patricia Leslie

On this sign TRUMPS is an acronym for "Traitor, Racist, Unqualified, Misogynist, Pathetic, Sad, so sad" at the National Mall July 4, 2019/Photo by Patricia Leslie

These ladies are having a good time with selfies with Trump on the toilet.  The sign says "No Military Parade     For the Dear Leader     We're NOT Nazi Germany     North Korea    The Soviet Union" at the National Mall July 4, 2019/Photo by Patricia Leslie

This sign identified the button cart as "The Roving Anti-Trump Band Wagon" at the National Mall July 4, 2019/Photo by Patricia Leslie

This sign says: "Make America Lawful Again," at the National Mall July 4, 2019/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Her t-shirt reads "In Our America   Women are in charge   OF THEIR OWN BODIES   Science is real.  BLACK LIVES MATTER   Diversity is celebrated   Kindness is everything   LOVE IS LOVE    ENOUGH IS ENOUGH" at the National Mall July 4, 2019/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Trump on the toilet drew lots of attention at the CodePink tent at the National Mall July 4, 2019.  The woman in the t-shirt is at far right.  

A few feet away I struck up a conversation with a man who was with his wife and three young children, ages three months, about 15 months, and not three years old. The mother, with infant strapped to her chest, dragged a huge Trump flag. The father, about 30 years old, said he liked my "Make Love   Not War" sticker I was wearing from CodePink.  "Would you like me to go get you one?" I asked him,  He wanted one, and I went and got four for all members of the family, save the youngest, and when I returned, we put the stickers all over the family members. He said he liked Trump but not war and didn't support Trump's attacking Iran, if he does.  I told him CodePink was quite anti-Trump, and he said he didn't care, that he liked the message.  Under thunder and lightening, the family stood in the rain without an umbrella. I tried to think of a shelter for them but could not come up with anything near the Washington Monument, and it was after the museums' closings.
  
Soon the three-year-old took my umbrella from my hand and wanted to keep it.  After a few minutes I got my umbrella back, said goodbye and left to see if I could find an umbrella for them. (You know how they are always around at the Metro stations, but this was not a Metro station and there were no umbrellas!)  

All I could find was ice cream and hot dogs.

Should I give them my umbrella?  I wrestled with the dilemma. My camera!  My phone! Getting wet.

After a few seconds I remembered a rain poncho I had stuck in my bag and went back to the family, now absent the father and oldest child, while the mother stood in light raindrops. She said yes, she would like the poncho so I helped her put it on while she covered her baby, asleep and head bobbing, in a blanket in its carrier which hung from her neck.  Meanwhile, the 15-month old stood in the rain uncovered.  I said goodbye again.  

I am still bothered by that family standing in the rain!  I believe it was the newborn with the bobbing head while his mother retrieved a bottle and bent to fetch items the other children had dropped on the grass which got to me.  When present, the father seemed totally oblivious to his family in the rain, but maybe that was just me, an old grandma, worrying about strangers and their needs which, I hope, are far less than what I imagine, and they are just fine/Photo by Patricia Leslie

  At the CodePink tent at the National Mall July 4, 2019/Photo by Patricia Leslie

The man on the left at the CodePink tent wore a braid of sleeping squirrels or a raccoon with a big tail at the National Mall July 4, 2019 /Photo by Patricia Leslie

 At the CodePink tent, this woman lifted her rain poncho to show her sign at the National Mall, July 4, 2019/Photo by Patricia Leslie

This couple told me the Baby Trump balloons were free down at Constitution and 17th, but by the time I got there, no more balloons! July 4, 2019/Photo by Patricia Leslie

On 17th at the edge of the White House grounds, this woman was happy with her new Baby Trump balloons.  Maybe the grimacer was unhappy he didn't get one? July 4, 2019/Photo by Patricia Leslie

 The Baby Trump balloons were almost as plentiful on 17th as the spawning trash on 17th, July 4, 2019/Photo by Patricia Leslie

 Happy families festooned with Baby Trump balloons on the Ellipse, July 4, 2019/Photo by Patricia Leslie

The Executive Office Building festooned for July 4, 2019/Photo by Patricia Leslie

July 4 Capitol Concert is dynamite

At the rehearsal of the 2013 July 4 Capitol Concert on July 3, Neil Diamond sang the premiere of his Freedom Song:  They'll Never Take Us Down composed in honor of the 2013 Boston Marathon victims, first responders, and the city's recovery. He also sang Sweet Caroline/Patricia Leslie

Not to miss on PBS tonight at 8 p.m. EST!

Washington, D.C. for all its bad has a lot of good at the U.S. Capitol, and one of the best is the July 4 Capitol concert which, after attending last night, I vow not to miss again.  It would be hard to top free Barry Manilow, Neil Diamond, and John Williams performances, and Barry sang a lot more than an expected one or two patriotic songs.

The Choral Arts Society of Washington, the National Symphony Orchestra, the U.S. Army Herald Trumpets, the U.S. Army Ceremonial Band, cannons (the U.S. Army Presidential Salute Battery) and fireworks shot off behind the Congressional office buildings made the evening an unforgettable experience.  Bravo!

The next inaugural committee might consider hiring Barry Manilow who did not lip sync, but wowed thousands at the July 4, 2013 Capitol Concert rehearsal with his eternally energetic and distinctive voice.  He invited members of the crowd to join him in singing, and he held the microphone for some individuals to sing a few seconds of solo which delighted the audience and proved how magnetic his voice and stage presence are. Barry Manilow is 70 years old/Patricia Leslie 

(My friend says to me:  "Ah, um....isn't Barry Manilow kind of smaltzy?"  And I say to my friend:  "I wouldn't mind schmaltzing with him.")

Barry Manilow at the rehearsal of the 2013 July 4 Capitol Concert.  He sang I Write the Songs That Make the Young Girls Cry, It's a Miracle, Can't Smile Without You, Could It Be Magic?, Let Freedom Ring/Patricia Leslie

Members of the Broadway cast of Motown: The Musical sang Get Ready, but they weren't.  They were the only performers who exhibited lack of rehearsal for the rehearsal.  Behind the jumbotron is what looks like a jumbo pencil but is the Washington Monument under repair/Patricia Leslie

Michelle Obama might do well to use Darren Criss in her Move It! weight loss campaign for it was easy for him to get audience members on their feet and shaking tail feathers with his dynamic Shout! backed up by Patrick Lundy and the Ministers of Music/Patricia Leslie

At the foot of the steps to the U.S. Capitol it was hard to keep still when Darren Criss belted out Shout!/Patricia Leslie

Jackie Evancho sang an electric Star-Spangled Banner.  Other performers were Christopher Martin, Megan Hilty, Scotty McCreery, and Candice Glover/Patricia Leslie

This is what the stage looked like about 75 minutes before show time/Patricia Leslie

Union Station was bedecked in July 4 regalia/Patricia Leslie

Before the concert rehearsal started, these folks at the foot of the U.S. Capitol steps did what Washingtonians like to do: read, eat, and lay on concrete to stake out space and rest before the really big show/Patricia Leslie

The view from the Capitol steps/Patricia Leslie

The Embassy of Canada celebrates July 4 with Canadian flags/Patricia Leslie

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