Portland Parks and Recreation does this really cool thing called Movies in the Park. It’s free and folks come out by the hundreds with their blankets and chairs and dinner.

Part of the park creates a kind of large amphitheater with a flat bowl in the middle. This night, we lay out on the grass to listen to live music while the huge blow-up screen is tied down and the projector and speakers are set up.

When it gets dark, the movie begins. Tonight was La La Land. I wouldn’t recommend the movie but who can resist watching movies out in the park, under the stars on a warm summer evening?

At 11:00 sharp, we’re about three-quarters of the way through the movie. People are relaxed, babies and children are settled down or sleeping, and what to our surprise? The sprinklers came on.

Long geysers of water are coursing their way around, soaking us… as the water hits the first people, they begin to scream and holler, babies begin to cry and dogs are barking.

The rest of us are startled, afraid of what could be happening, and then the next group and the next are hit as the powerful sprinklers rotate around and around. Everyone tries to gather up their belongings as fast as they can.

What was most surprising of all was, once we realized what was happening, that you could hear gales of laughter. No one was cursing, no one was bitching; we were all laughing (except the children who were so rudely awakened).

The water was shut off momentarily but not before I was soaked. Most people left but some stayed to finish watching the movie.

I shoved everything in my bag, threw my chair across my shoulder and walked home through the wet grass. Fortunately, I was just less than two blocks from home.

I love you Portland Parks and Recreation. I’ll be back for the next round of music and movies. I’m still laughing.