Thousands of people packed Main Avenue on Friday to see Durango’s Fourth of July Parade.
The crowd stood beneath a gently weeping sky, surrounded by omnipresent American flags that citizens – wet, inconvenienced, but undaunted – raised to the wind. The scene sometimes evoked Ellis Island with families of every race and age huddling together amid hostile conditions – including inclement weather and overcrowding – determined, come what may, to seize some small part of the American Dream.
If many of the floats rolling down Main were hand-me-downs from the morning’s Fourth of July celebrations in neighboring Bayfield – the acknowledged municipal leader in all matters relating to Independence Day parades – the crowd didn’t seem to mind.
People waved frantically at a float conveying a radiant George and Martha Washington, whose wigs almost upstaged an unspecified grandchild. The 900 block broke out into loud, exuberant song when a troupe of bagpipers played “You’re a Grand Old Flag.” Later, when the Durango Choral Society rode by singing beautiful American anthems to which know one knew the words, the crowd responded with supportive applause.
Love of country
The country’s 238th birthday inspired many displays of patriotism, and political passion, in downtown Durango this week.
On Tuesday afternoon, a thin elderly man stood at the intersection of College Drive and Main Avenue holding a large, hand-drawn cardboard sign that read: “Americans are Tyrants $ Have a Crappy 4th of July.”
On the day itself, one tall blond man expressed his love of country in Buckley Park by dancing a powerful, full-body jig with two women in the rain, his gyrating shoulders draped in an enormous, ever-moistening American flag.
In a fortnight that saw divisive Supreme Court decisions on everything from women’s rights to companies’ religious freedom, others’ patriotism took more nuanced expression.
Behind the counter at Silk Sparrow on Main, Malind Nikulski, 22, said to her, being an American means “that I can make decisions on any issue in my life.”
She said she thought the country could be “doing a little better” and wished that people – and newspapers – would pay more attention to good news, especially when local businesses succeed or people help each other.
Jessica Clark, who’s lived in Durango for 20 years, said while she’s sometimes felt disheartened by the directions the country has taken, she’s grateful to be an American.
“I feel both very lucky and occasionally frustrated. But it’s crazy: You go to Mexico and see men carrying guns around. Here, I feel safe,” she said.
Clark said she would show her patriotism by fully partaking in Fourth of July revelry.
“When we get together, it’s not like, ‘Yay! We’re America!’ But it’s all about showing patriotism by enjoying the day with a beer, hot dogs, family and good friends,” she said.
The American way
Across the street from Buckley Park, a family bedecked in Americana-themed clothing took shelter from the rain under an awning.
Nick Olivas said they were from Los Alamos, New Mexico.
Asked what it means to be an American, Olivas said, “As the saying goes, it means ‘the home of brave and the land of the free.’”
Pointing to health care and paved roads, he said, “I’m lucky to be an American. As a people, we’ve been blessed by so much. We’re one of the most prosperous nations on the planet, and we have so much to be grateful for.”.
He said meaningful displays of patriotism go beyond shellacking one’s car in red, white and blue bumper stickers or chanting, “America’s No. 1!”
“Patriotism is acknowledging that there are boundaries to freedom, things you cannot do, and requires respecting others’ rights and loving your neighbor as yourself. That’s why our forefathers died, for that freedom,” he said.
His wife, Lisa Olivas, agreed, saying, “Most people don’t like cops. But when you’re robbed, in how many countries in the world will people show up and try to help you?”
Showing off their tie-dye, red, white and blue shirts, they nonetheless agreed that bedecking oneself in stars-and-stripes-themed bling for the Fourth of July is an important and valid way for citizens to proclaim their ardor for America.
“Earlier today, we realized we didn’t have anything to wear for the parade, so we got them last minute at Walmart,” Nick Olivas said.
He laughed, saying that, somehow, the purchase was particularly American.
cmcallister@durangoherald.com
