This is the Way to Go

Soon after we turned the corner, I could hear music. Specifically marching band music, but toned down. This wasn't the Stanford Band. I stepped into the street to look past the parked cars and sure enough, a marching band was coming toward us. "Is this a holiday?" I asked Kevin. As they got closer, we could see it was a full funeral procession, with a nearly life sized picture of the deceased woman atop the lead car, followed by a hearse. The Green Street Mortuary has their own marching band!? (I wonder if they call the funeral packages that include the band something like "The Head of State" service.) It turns out they're quite famous, with a Ferlinghetti poem about them and a feature on NPR. They perform for about 300 funerals a year, so I'd imagine it would get old if you lived along the standard route, but for us, it was an enjoyable surprise. (We stood there to watch the procession out of respect, but with no end in sight after a few cars had passed, we moved on too.)