Mayor's Christmas Parade Kids

   Sponsors aside for the moment;  Parades are all about the children, and Baltimore's Christmas parade is no exception.

  

  A few of my favorite moments from this year's Mayor's* Hampden-Medfield Christmas parade are included on this page, and the obvious stand-outs to my male-slanted grandfather's eye will always be Kids & Cars, in that order...and this post is dedicated to the first group.
 

   The occasional muscle car will grab my attention for a few moments too long so that I nearly miss the ideal shot, like the '68 Goat (only got 1 shot, and it's gonna take some real PS magic to save it, but how often do you get to see a restored "Judge"?), but the kids touch my heart in a way that actually swings the camera into place because I want the world (at least my little piece of it) to see what I just saw.

  Playing dress-up with Mommy, and getting psyched-up for a long march through the streets of Baltimore to show everyone the results of those hours ( and in many cases days, and even years) of preparation is a rare ritual that only a select few children can experience, and for the majority of participants it will be a lifetime memory.
  ...For the rest, we will immortalize their contributions on pages like this one.

   My favorite shot from this grouping represented my favorite Christmas song (It's also my Dad's favorite as well, and this being the first Christmas without him around made it even more so), is therefore the most fitting picture of the day:  The Little Drummerboy