Windsor block party came off without much bugs, or even any sunburns. Yet one day before August 24, it rained a lot. We thought the block party would be all washed up. Who would want to come to a rainy, soggy block event?
The next day, the rain clouds disappeared miraculously. Me and Richard rose up early, blurry-eyed but determined to get the decorations up and the electrical plugs up and running. The night before, we laboriously blew up over a dozen balloons, hoping that the cat would not pop too many. Since I hate blowing balloons, I used a pumper which was still quite a slow progress. The same day, I received a text that a volunteer had called in sick due to the flu. The block party would have to be created with a handful of volunteers, but oh well, I thought, all one needs is determination.
As I rose to drink some coffee, Rich coaxed me to get out of the house before 9 am. We had to grab some more food at Costco and go to the flea market to get an electrical plug, or the band would not play. Taking only a few sips of coffee, I ran out the door. We zipped to the Costco only to find it still closed and the flea market the same way. With six hours to go before the block party, we were all a jumble of nerves since the decorations were not up yet.
We had barely time to grap some coffee at the Tim Hortons before we jumped into the car and covered some errands. Back home, the balloons got tangled with the flag decoration. We slowly undid the tangles and then Richard climbed the ladder as he tied the flag decoration to the trees.
Before long, Mike of Astro Drive had arrived and I mistook him for a guest. He didn't make much small-talk and asked for the wires. Another vendor, Martin was a bit more talkative. He offered use of his wonderful, hand-made music machines for attendees. Another vendor, Tony, who I met a day before at a Chinese festival, asked where to set up his egg roll booth. It was all coming together.
Neighbours offered use of their tables and chairs and little kids volunteered to place them in the block party area.
Around 4 pm, the band Astro Drive played and people started to arrive. Hotdogs and grape juice were the food of the day. Later, people dropped off items like fruit, cupcakes and Chinese food. Buy-Low Foods and Starbucks offered much-needed support.
Strangers even dropped in, after seeing the decorations from the street.
People who lived quietly in separate spaces for years were now talking to each other. Somehow some lives were changed that day. New friendships were born and perhaps a more hopeful attitude was also an outcome. Everyone was relaxed, friendly and happy.
All the hard work, the pressure of getting everything right was somehow forgotten when I looked into the eyes and the smiles of block party participants.
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