Flowers, Some Wildlife and a Marching Band or Five

This past Victoria long weekend we went to Victoria - it seemed appropriate - to meander the gardens and watch the Victoria day parade.  I got my spring flower fix. There's nothing so beautiful as a sun drenched flower.  And bonus, mother nature provided us with some company.

Those are turtles sunning themselves on that log.

Here they are up close and personal.  So great!

Not to be outdone baby ducks showed up.

Many of the flowering bushes were in bloom.  In my part of the world Rhododendrons are in season.

The colour of these flowers was extraordinary.

I also love them in white.

These purple gems were everywhere.  We've also got them growing at our house. Speaking of purple gems, my mother in law had these on her patio and I want them.

 Having been saturated in floral beauty it was time to turn my attention to the most energizing form of music on the planet - the march.  Victoria's Victoria day parade has such great marching bands. Most of them are high school students and they are local, from the mainland or from Washington and Oregon.  And holy smokes do they do a good job.  A spine tingling, toe tapping, goose bump raising good job.

I loved these guys because they were in kilts.  Such a great idea!

There's something about a feather in one's cap, no?

I love, love, love a drum line.  And this day I was not disappointed.  Also, how cool are these uniforms?

Every single one of these bands were mesmerizing.

Drum and tuba line - Squee!

I know very little about marching bands.  I can only imagine how much practice it takes to play an instrument and then play an instrument while precision marching.  The level of dedication of these musicians is phenomenal, not to mention the support teams that work like the dickens so they can practice, travel, look spiffy in their uniforms and perform.  It's actually exhausting just thinking about it.  And then I show up on a sunny day and get to be thoroughly entertained.  I am such a fan!

The icing on the marching band cake if you will, is the piper band.  I can't watch a piper band without getting chocked up.  I can't write about a piper band without getting choked up.  There is something so thrillingly dramatic about a bag pipe.  And more than one creates a haunting musical experience that reached right into my soul and squeezes.  Add drums to that and I'm lost.

My photo sucks - but you get the idea.  And to hammer it home, I'll leave you with a little tune these guys play that reduces me to a blubbering idiot of fanatical appreciation.