As the Road Narrows

I had to go in to town this morning to Villa's Imports to get more 1/8th inch cable clamps for the antenna guy wires. I decided that since it was so nice after a week of rain, that I would ride my bike in. On the way, I stopped to say hi to Doug and Twyla and kibitz with them about their new fence that is being built.

Turns out that Doug needed to go into town as well to get a rather beefy knife switch for his generator. He was also planning to go to Villa's, so he decided to ride with me.

Doug needed to make a cash stop at the bank first, so we wheeled down along the waterfront to head to the bank. Along the way, we were brought to a halt by a small little parade for Public Service Employees Day. The day where all the government agencies wave the flag, or at least their agency banner, and have employees marching in the parade.

It was a fun interlude on our trek. We stopped to watch and I took a few photos of the procession.

Belize Defense Force (BDF) Band

Belize Defense Force (BDF) Marching

There were all sorts of agencies represented - military, police, Social Security, Sub-Treasury, etc.

Belize Police Marchers

Belize Police Drum Unit

More Marchers

Uprising Youth Drum Corps

After the parade passed, we jumped back on our bikes and zoomed off for the bank, having to work our way around to get in front of the parade to get to the bank.

From the bank, we made it to Villa's. While there, I found they had CLR in stock, so I bought a bottle. It's been months since they've had it in stock. Strike while the iron is hot!

After our purchases, we headed back home. As we approached Doug's house, it was evident the workers had been busy laying blocks for the wall. Here's a couple of pictures showing progress still fairly early in the day.

Block Work At Doug and Twyla's

More Block Work At Doug and Twyla's

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Breakfast This Morning

This morning we woke up had some One Gallon Belizean coffee to kick start things, and decided we would accomplish much this day.

Well, what we really decided was that we'd head into Corozal and have breakfast at Al's, if he was open, then we were going to go to Orange Walk to look for some blinds and scope out the big hardware store that's supposed to be there.

First thing I did, with a major journey looming, was to check the oil and water in the trusty Rodeo. She was a thirsty girl. I'm going to have to check it every day for a while to see if there is a leak or what exactly is going on. Also, there doesn't appear to be any antifreeze in her. Not good in this temperature.

Maintenance is King in Belize

I checked the oil. That appears good. Full reading on the stick and a good color. I plan to keep it that way. One less thing to worry about.

So, after that, we climbed aboard, and headed into Corozal, thinking of Al's and breakfast.

As we were heading down 4th, I kept hearing a siren, but couldn't see a vehicle. Looking in the rear-view mirrors and glancing all around, I finally saw it - a Corozal Police 4x4 in the middle of the road up ahead about a block and a half - lights flashing, siren going like a house afire.

What's going on we wondered? Dianna said her first thought was, "Oh, no. They found another body in the bay", since they had found a floater there the other day. But, no, that wasn't it. We were quite confused and perplexed - perhaps a robbery or some other major crime in the middle of town. But then the mystery, at least in part, was solved. Coming up behind the police cruiser I saw a squad of soldiers from the Belize Defense Forces (BDF) marching, arms swinging in the British fashion.

"Aha! A parade", I shouted. So, I quickly pulled over to the side of the street, grabbed the camera, and we all jumped out to watch the parade.

Belize Defense Forces On Parade

The BDF was followed by a police unit mobilized to combat drunk drivers and their banner memorialized one of their own fallen comrades.

Students Against Drunk Drivers

After the police unit came a school drum unit - they were actually quite good, providing the rhythm and back beat for the marching units of the parade.

        

Now it got interesting... Postmen and women on parade. What was this?

This is Going Postal?

And yet, even stranger, Tax Collector's on the march. What could they be after? Why weren't these people, public servants all, hard at work maintaining bureaucracy for us all?

Tax Collector's Walking

And something right out of Monty Python - Accounts, organized and marching...

Sailing on the Wide Accountancy

A bit from Monty Python's The Meaning of Life...

LEAD PIRATE:
Full speed ahead, Mr. Cohen!
CHORUS:
Up, up, up your premium. Up, up, up your premium.
... (There's more - go watch the movie.)
PIRATES:
It's fun to charter an accountant
And sail the wide accountancy,
To find, explore the funds offshore
And skirt the shoals of bankruptcy!

It can be manly in insurance.
We'll up your premium semi-annually.
It's all tax deductible.
We're fairly incorruptible,
We're sailing on the wide accountancy!

Like I said, go watch the movie. Genius at work!

Well! Back to reality... Next up in the parade is the Belize Highway Patrol and their Toyota HiLux 4x4 - The vehicle of choice down here.

Where's Broderick Crawford?

And, perhaps the strangest entry of all - the Department of National Security. Wave nicely to the folks.

They're Watching You

I could tell Dianna was getting all excited now, a fire truck from the Corozal station of the National Fire Service.

Sparky and his Fire Truck

Well, all good things must end. It was kind of hard to tell if we were at the end of the parade. There were no pooper-scoopers bringing up the rear! Come to think of it, there weren't any horses or clowns for that matter. We'll have to work on getting that fixed.

So, what was the parade for? We found out after breakfast when we saw a banner across the street that we had missed before, it was National Public Service Day, June 22. Of course! It made sense now - all but the marching accountants.

On to breakfast!