Sketching a parade is not easy. They always tend to move. So I’m not showing you the scribbles I made as the 117th Rose Parade, an annual event in Santa Rosa, California, marched by. We got downtown early, and found a good spot across from the library. My son loves marching bands, I mean really loves them, so this was a bonanza (quite literally; the theme was the Old West, and every band played the Bonanza theme tune at some point). The marching bands are all from local schools, mostly high schools but some young ones as well. My wife’s old schools were represented, though, she lamented, the marching bands just aint what they used to be. We spotted her young cousins marching with their school; we never had anything like this in England! All those uniforms and hats and trumpets and drums; ‘Band’ is a very American thing. I didn’t see many majorettes though, twirling batons. I did see dancing horses though. It was a Mexican troupe, I think, but the horses really did dance, it was amazing. Anyway, here is a sketch I did while we were waiting for the parade to begin. One thing about this parade, local businesses tend to throw candies and lollipops and other such goodies at the spectators. One even threw out packs of corn tortilla, which was nice – I grabbed some of that. Note to self – remember that you don’t actually like corn tortilla all that much, and remember next time that the smell of corn tortilla will stay in your bag for days, including all over your sketchbook. You live and you learn. Anyway it was a fun morning, and after sitting out in the sun, it was time for a nap.