This blog post was written in the summer of 2019. 

Most days find me on the computer.  Much of that time seems spent on my calendar business related activities. But here is what made one day so very unusual and fun.

I hadn’t turned on the computer all morning due to many household chores. That alone was unusual. At 11:30 my wife and I walked to a city-wide event taking place in the large park across the street. We first strolled past a scattering of classic cars of the 60’s. More than one brought back memories of my youth. 

Then on to the food and music area which had been there all week. We had certainly taken advantage of the many food trucks that circled the running track.  We even noticed that there was a beer tent. Grin. 

But today was the day of the big parade. It had over 115 floats, loud vehicles, marching bands and organizations. As we finished lunch, those in the parade were assembling on adjacent streets.

Leading off the parade were two groups. One walking that promotes neighborhood efforts and one cycling that promotes bicycles. Since we are associated with both groups, we regularly are invited to join them.

With my low vision, I don’t feel safe on my old 2-wheeler, so some years ago, I bought a 3-wheeler that works fine for me. We went home and mounted our respective bikes and headed to our gathering spot.

It was a sunny and hot day. We are lucky that in our older, near-downtown neighborhood, much of the streets are mostly tree-lined offering welcome cooling shade.

My wife was asked to hold one side of the group’s wide banner and lead off the whole parade. I was again asked to ride behind them with boxes of flyers and litter bags sitting in the trike’s large rear wire basket. When the signal came to begin, the banner carriers set off and the whole parade began to lurch forward.   

I, along with bicyclists of all ages and even a guy on a unicycle, slowly weaved back and forth across the empty streets as we smiled, passed out litter bags and tossed candy to the kids. You can guess how those litter bags mostly got used.  Grin.

As we slowly covered the one-and-a-half-mile route, I marveled at how nice it was to have the curbs lined with happy families and not cars!

As soon as we got to the ending point, we unloaded and took a less crowded route back home. With friends nearby, snacks and beverages in hand, we settled in as the 2-hour parade passed directly in front of our house!  What a treat!

But that’s not all.  At 4:30, I headed to do my volunteer stint at the entrance to the park pool and golf parking lot to urge others to park elsewhere. So, after that, I was hot, tired and ready for a shower and a relaxing dinner at home.

That evening, the distant sound of music from the band in the park floating through the open windows was a perfect end to an unusual and fun day.

Edward Cohen is a senior, legally-blind entrepreneur. His company designs and makes products useful for daily living that help those dealing with vision decline or related challenges. In 2015, he started EZ2See® Products LLC to make a large-print, weekly-style planner. He incorporated unique features not found elsewhere, which is why it is so accessible. He continues to create and add unique low-vision products.