Pride Parade, Orlando Shooting.

On Sunday morning, we got up early to ride in the West Hollywood Pride Parade.  I saw the horrible news about the shooting at the nightclub in Orlando but I don't think it sunk in that it was a gay nightclub until I got to the branch and we began talking about it.  I could not fathom how ONE PERSON could kill and wound so many people.  I see he had something called an MCX, which looks like something the military should have.  I cannot, for the life of me, understand why a private citizen would want to own and be able to own a gun that is essentially a weapon of mass destruction.  I am sick and tired of the extreme gun nuts and YES I called them nuts, who claim the Second Amendment  allows them to own such things. I am NOT advocating that people in this country not be allowed to own guns.  I know many people ( now I sound like Der Trump) who own guns and who hunt, some to put food on the table.  Those people, RESPONSIBLE gun owners, are not my complaint. I wonder about people like the Orlando shooter, who were on some kind of FBI watch list, but seriously I wonder why anyone has to own an assault rifle.  Deer don't fire back.

Chris and I joined my colleagues from the library in marching in the parade.  Well, WE didn't march.  No way my knees could take it.  We were able to ride in the van that is painted like the classic LAPL Library card.  We rode with the sliding door open, calling out to the crowd.  The crowd seemed happy to see us, and especially to see Ghost, the dog who belongs to our coordinator.  SHE worked the crowd like a rock star.  Poor puppy was wiped by the time the parade was over  The crowd was a mixed bag of people, some outlandishly dressed, some that just looked like people from the neighborhood.  Everyone seemed to be having a good time.  The parade itself started and hour late, or maybe it just took that long for it to reach us at the rear of the procession.  There was a heavy presence from the Sheriff's Department, but not dressed in riot gear or helmets.  They seemed comforting, somehow  as if they were saying, "We are here to make sure YOU can march" They DID have a concerted ring around what I like to think of as the protesters "corral"   This is placed off to the side on one of the widest streets.  I could hear them chanting "shame on you"  and the crowd laughingly chanting back "NO,  shame on YOU!"  it reminded me of a football game where the fans chanted slogans back and forth, not really meaning anything by it.  I found myself, again, wondering just WHO Jesus would hate. I get the feeling that those guys are going to have a long talk with him at some point where he clarifies the "love ye one another" part of his message to his followers.  It was a long day, but we felt good at the end of the parade.  It is especially important to me that the library be visible as a symbol of inclusion.  On the wall of the Central Library there is a quote "Books invite all: they constrain none."

On the drive home, I was looking at the clouds.  I was tired.  Sometimes when clouds are scattered by the wind, they are drawn across the sky like a child pulling apart cotton candy. To me, this always looks like angels and Sunday was no different except in the middle of one of the angels, I saw what looked like a rainbow.   I wish I had taken a photo and wonder if it would have turned out anyway.  As a child I was taught that rainbows are a message of hope from God.  I believe this rainbow was just that.