Celebrating America....sort of.

People out on Lancaster Boulevard for the Celebrate America festival on
the tenth anniversary of Sept. 11. Intermittent rain didn't dampen spirits.

I could barely walk when I woke up this morning.

My bad knee and my sciatica were screaming from walking around on high heels. We had planned an evening at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising; they were having a reception for their new show "Fabulous! 200 Years of Fashion History, 1800-2010."  That would have involved minimal walking.

A faux drive-in in front of Lancaster Performing Arts Center.

But then we got on the freeway and it was bumper to bumper beginning at the Antelope Valley Mall, so we abandoned the plan. Little did I know what a mess the southbound freeway was, and that Sierra Highway was flooded.

We were dressed to the nines, and I had spent an inordinate amount of time on my makeup. I wasn't going home after all that. So we ate at Giovanni's and headed to the BLVD for the Celebrate America street party. 

What had been Plan B turned out to be a great evening: friends, music, cars, and even a little dancing. (Who knew you could do the rhumba to Steely Dan's "Peg"?) And, a lot of walking.

A thing of beauty: the Hudson.

There were Abe Lincoln, Benjamin Franklin and George Washington impersonators, as well as Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley. Having a beer in the Lemon Leaf, I overheard a woman enthusing about the "Ol' Blue Eyes" ringer. According to her, he had the whole package: looks, moves and voice. Oh, and the hat, too.

And what could be more American than cars? Some of the best of Detroit was on display, with lots of muscle cars and high -performance autos in evidence: Camaros, Mustangs, GTOs, Dusters and Road Runners.

In addition to American cars, there was an MG TC, too. Unfortunately, I didn't get a photo of it, but it was gorgeous!

The Santa Clarita rock band, R5, playing on the Leaf Stage
 at Celebrate America.

On the stage next to Lemon Leaf were a teen band called R5. Ranging in age from 14 to 19, they are a very tight quartet, and lots of fun to watch. Cute boys in pink shirts playing guitars, and a fetching sister on keyboards playing a mix of original material and covers from the All American Rejects and Rick Springfield, among others.

Their website says that they have been performing since they were one to six-years old, and it shows. They are very professional.

Four of the five are siblings, and they have a great time on stage. If they've been performing that long, it's clear there were parents being puppet masters, so I hope they aren't compelled to participate longer than they want to.

One of the boys is an upcoming Disney series, "Austin and Ally," and Riker, the bass player, is in "Glee" playing one of the Warblers, and just came off the Glee concert tour.

Two knights in shining armor. The one on
the right is spoken for, sorry.

We stopped in to say "hello" to Chris and Dennis Calaba, and Rena and Vijay Patel at the Graphic Experience. One of the BLVD pianos is in front of their store, and people just wander up to it and play. Of course, while we were there, no one with any talent happened by, but it's a fun concept. The framing store owners say sometimes they are serenaded by people who really do know how to play.

It really did feel like a old-fashioned event. The skies opened up while we were sitting on a bench in front of Chris and Rena's store, so we stood under the green and white striped awning, and it felt like every meet-cute in a musical comedy.

The fireworks went off despite the inclement weather, and they were spectacular. There's another fine American institution: colorful exploding munitions.

But underlying all the frivolity was the reason for the street fair: Patriot Day, the day of remembrance for those killed on Sept. 11, 2001. And therein lies the rub for any columnist: do you ignore the obvious elephant in the room and write whatever you want, when your column appears on 9/11? Or do you add your voice to the multitude of people looking back, pontificating, and analyzing?

This car show entrant evokes the by-gone era
 of the the drive-in movie with a speaker stand.

What could I possibly say about 9/11 that would be of any interest? I wasn't there; I have no survival story; and the ways it impacted me are the same ways it impacted all of us: a loss of freedom, two wars, billions of dollars spent to "keep us safe," and the bursting of the never-been-attacked-on-our-own-soil bubble.

Whatever unity the Sept. 11 attacks fostered has long since dissipated, as anyone who takes the slightest interest in politics can see. Our country is so polarized we can't carry on a civil conversation anymore, and I'm so sick of it all, I'd like to throw all the bums (of any party) out.

We've got a whole generation graduating out of college into a job market where 14.9% of 20 to 24-year-old are unemployed, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Replacing all our elected officials with young people ought to put a dent in that number. From what I can see, they couldn't possibly do any worse.

Considering that people currently in office have obsene retirement packages, we don't need to shed any tears for them. It's not like they're doing their jobs anyway. Only a tiny fraction of them are having town hall meetings over the summer break, probably because they don't want the grief of actually listening to constituents.

I try not to let the current state of affairs get me down. I muddle through, hoping to one day have a full-time job for me, my recently graduated daughter, recently laid-off friends and everyone else who is under-and un-employed.

And now you know why I rarely write about politics: it just makes me depressed.