although it doesn't seem that long ago, i haven't been to the boston greek parade in 6 years, not since 2011. i didn't go in 2012 because of a big rainstorm. 2013 i went to the cambridge city run instead of the parade. 2014 i was in changshou that april. 2015 i simply didn't go. 2016 i was once again back in chongqing that april. finally in 2017 i'm rediscovering the greek parade. i usually manage to get a few good photos from the event, and as the first official parade of the year (i don't count the st.patrick's day parade in march), i use it as practice for the parade photography that happens later in the year (pride march, caribbean parades, honkfest, speedo santa). although it seems like i used to go every year, i've only been to 2 other greek parades besides 2011: 2007 (my first time) and 2009.

it was a nice day (the final day of april), sunny, but temperature only in the 50's. i thought about inviting karen, but judging from what i told her, i didn't think she'd be interested, and i didn't want to put undue pressure on her from my asking. besides, often times i get better photos when i'm working solo. i had some pita bread and tzatziki for breakfast and made myself some bengal spice tea to take outside. as a semi-weekend tradition, we watched some phantom gourmet, the weak reception pixelating the HD image. the parade was at 1pm, i left at 12:17pm via fuji bike.

it took 25 minutes of riding to arrive at copley square. blocks along the parade route were already barricaded off but free for a bicycle to roll through. i found a signpost along boylston street and locked my bike. i then stationed myself at the corner of bolyston and dartmouth street.

i've often wonder this: why do the greeks get a parade out of all the other ethnicities? is there really that large a greek community in the boston area? how about armenians? or brazilians?

as the parade started, the weather began to change. what was blue sky and white clouds earlier turned into a soupy grey. i wasn't complaining because the clouds dampened the harsh contrast that a bright sun would create. i don't remember any forecast of rain for today, so i put my faith in the weather report, that this was only a passing event.

around 1:40pm the ominous grey clouds made good on their promise and it began to rain. it wasn't raining hard, but it fell in fat droplets. i ducked under the copley square ticket kiosk pavilion, and so did some other people. fortunately by that point in the parade many spectators had already left to follow the procession down to boston common.

by the time i was ready to go home the rain had stopped. but just when i was unlocking my bike, it began to fall again. i ducked under the trinity church, bringing my bike as well so it wouldn't get wet. i pulled up the weather app on my iphone to see when the rain would stop. apparently there's 50-60% chance of rain all the way until 5pm. i'm trapped! i waited a few minutes, but when it looked like the rain had stopped again, i made my move and headed towards the charles river down boylston to charles street. the procession was still going and the streets were still closed, so i had boylston all to myself. it was raining a little bit, not manageable. as long as it wasn't a downpour, i would keep on going.

i decided to get home along the charles river and then cross the mass ave bridge. i spotted a grove of pink flowering cherry trees and stopped to take some photos. i could've stayed longer, but i was afraid at some point the rain would get heavier and i didn't want to get caught in a downpour. it was a little rough along the bike path as it wasn't very sheltered and my whole body was getting pelted with rain. once i crossed the bridge though, the rain seemed to have stopped once more, and i made it home in good shape.

i got back at 2:30pm. karen was still home, lounging on the coach, streaming some netflix series on the television. she saw my wet appearance and was surprised it'd rained. i packed up my things and left for belmont soon afterwards.

karen wasn't home when i returned to cambridge around 7:20pm. she came back around 8pm, told me she went to the galleria mall (for the first time), but discovered they close at 7pm on sundays (i told her 9pm), so by the time she got there it was already too late to do any shopping.