I've been working on this for half a year, maybe I've finally got some of my points in order to share...
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| The Freemont Solstice 'Free Spirited' Parade |
One of the things Seattle is known for is it’s summer
parades. The weekend of the summer solstice (21st June) there is a
Solstice Parade in Freemont which is a 40min bus trip away. The parade is
billed as ‘The free spirited parade’. I am always on the lookout for
interesting things to do and I occasionally like to embrace my Fulbrighter
mission statement of cultural understanding so when two people at work told me
about the Solstice Parade I decided to give it a go. The thing the Freemont
Parade is infamous for is being led by a procession of naked cyclists. I was
told ‘many’ of them spent a long time on painting their bodies for the
occasion. The other neat (yes I have been living here too long) thing about it
is there are no motorised vehicles allowed.
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Bumble bees and flowers doing there summer thing!
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So informed I set off late in the afternoon on a hot and
sunny day for the 3pm parade. Luckily my bus goes straight there so I had a
seat as the bus got fuller and fuller. I arrived about 15mins after the
cyclists were due to set off so I thought I might catch the end of that part of
the parade and see what all the fuss was about before watching the marching
bands and floats which I was looking forward too. I dutifully followed the
crowd down the street to line the sidewalk with a plethora of people and there
they were, the naked cyclists, in all their glory. At which point I started to
get a little philosophical…
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| There were many beautiful puppets |
Contrary to popular country stereotypes not all English
people are prudes although I have to admit I probably lean in that direction.
I’ve stumbled upon naked cyclists before – in Hyde Park raising awareness for
prostate cancer. As a biologist I think the human body is a pretty amazing
thing and naked human bodies are pretty beautiful, but staring at naked people
from a crowd just seems a little bit weird to me. Some people were cheering the
cyclists on, which I kind of get, I think these people are pretty courageous
but most people (me included) were just watching in silence – which is actually
pretty creepy. We like to think that we are cool and collected and we don’t
find a few naked people embarrassing. I think we lie to ourselves quite a lot!
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| Beautiful Preying Mantis |
For many people this was a family day out, people had set up
fold-up chairs, brought coolers and picnics and there were plenty of children,
teenagers were fairly conspicuous in their absence. I wonder what you are trying
to teach your child by taking them to this parade? If I had a child I would
want them to learn; this is what normal human beings look like under their
clothes. These are not people who are unhealthily thin, they aren’t airbrushed,
they don’t all employ a personal trainer 24/7. Maybe you are trying to teach
your child this is normal, or to be adventurous, or to relax and enjoy life. I
don’t know.
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| Amazing Giraffe |
I hadn’t really gathered that much information about timing of the website and hadn’t really appreciated the start and end points for the parade route. This meant I spent a lot of time wondering around in the hot sun and getting de-hydrated. I knew there were painted and decorated cars somewhere, but I couldn’t find them. I knew there was a street fair but I couldn’t find that for a while. I got there eventually but the lack of information on the ground didn’t help my mood. The parade is entirely run by volunteers and donations so I can’t really fault them for their organisation, but then again really I am.
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| I loved the creative ways people had found to carry their percussion |
I have to say overall I was disappointed with the body
painting, perhaps that’s why I felt a bit disappointed by the whole day. Some
people had put a lot of effort in but other people just hadn’t.There were some people who were beautifully painted up. Some
with animal spots, some with geometric designs, some of the women had painted
bikini tops, and I should note at this point that for at least fifty percent of
people ‘naked’ meant topless.
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| A band in a bubble |
A free-spirited parade. That’s what I really don’t get.
Would I really ride around naked to celebrate being free spirited? I can get
cycling naked to raise awareness of a medical condition. I really admire the
Lady Godiva style ride against injustice, but for my own free spirit. Surely
there is a bit more to freedom than that?
Freedom is a curious concept. For someone in prison it might
mean their release date, for a teenager it might mean having their own car, or
for many of us maybe retiring. Being
able to do what we want, when we want. Freedom from poverty, illness, work.
What about freedom from anger, un-forgiveness? Sometimes one person’s freedom
impinges on another person’s. The right to carry arms and defend your family
denies others a right to a fair trial, for instance.
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| I found the decorated cars eventually; I'd drive this one! |
As a Christian freedom is a topic I think about relatively often
but many people think Christianity is all about rules; though shalt not. I
think ‘no’ can be a positive thing. My first (soft) example of my point is I am
a people pleaser, I can’t help it, I am a helper, helping other people makes me
happy; not in a self-righteous way but just that it fills a need to be needed. For
me ‘no’ is a healthy thing, it stops me spending energy on things I can’t
afford to, ‘no’ is freedom. Second, people have different responses when I tell
them I am tee total, some people look at me like I’m a special brand of
Christian Nutty, some congratulate me for my healthy choice, some Christian’s
look at me like I’m missing some fundamental piece of grace that allows them to
drink alcohol, but I have to say it is one of the most freeing decisions I ever
make. I love not drinking, it makes me glad. It is the essence of grace to me,
like rich perfume (I’ve been reading too much of the Psalms again, can you read
too much of the Psalms?).
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| I wouldn't drive this one! |
I distinctly remember my favourite time in my life. When I
was 3 or 4, my Sister was at school and my Dad was at work, it was just me and
my Mummy having soup for lunch. This is probably a somewhat idealised time
because I had all my Mum’s attention, but I suspect my Mum and me both being
fairly easy going people we also drifted through these days knowing our little
routines and sticking to them. I think this is probably the most free I have
ever been, I didn’t really have any kind of control but I was also free from
worry. Freedom from worry is an awesome thing. I think it is what we are aiming
towards when we look forward to days free of poverty, work, and illness. One of
the easiest ways to be free of worry is relinquish control to someone else. We
hate to do this but it is a decision many Christians make, and then re-make
when they forget.
In conclusion, I realise free-spirited describes a state of
not obeying convention but I’d rather aim to be freed by the Spirit.
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| Obedience and Freedom, one without the other is just a ramp leading to thin air! |
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