giving thanks for photos

I grew up watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade every year. On a day when my football-loving dad typically controlled the TV, it seemed that much more appealing. I'm not sure I'd even seen Miracle on 34th Street -- the best commercial the parade ever got -- and even so, the parade thrilled me. All those enormous balloons and marching bands on the streets of New York seemed exciting and exotic.

So last year John proved his love for me by standing in the worst imaginable weather to watch my first Thanksgiving Day parade in person. It was probably mid 30s, rain/sleeting and so windy that umbrellas were useless. I was soaked, frozen and still unwilling not to watch.

Thanks to global warming, this year we watched the parade from the roof of our building in shirt sleeves, no coats required. Instead, I was frustrated that I haven't found a new pair of sunglasses because it was so sunny and beautiful that I spent a lot of time squinting.

Besides getting to watch the parade live, and talk to my dad on the phone as he watched it on TV, another bonus for my inner 8-year-old is getting to go to balloon night. The night before the parade, streets get blocked off on the upper west side to prepare for the parade. When I heard that you could go watch the balloons get inflated, I imagined a cool backstage pass sort of thing, something in-the-know New Yorkers do. Instead, imagine the crowd trying to press into Michigan Stadium 10 minutes before kickoff. It's a dozen people across shuffling block after block before you're even anywhere near the balloons.

Somehow, though, our visiting friends Bob and Kathleen put up with it and we got an advance peek at some of the balloons, including Hello Kitty.













Back to Thanksgiving. After the parade, we got on the subway and trekked out to Brooklyn for dinner at Jim and Courtney's apartment. They decided years ago that Michigan isn't their home any more, New York is, so this is where they want to spend Thanksgiving. And they invited about a dozen of us who similarly wanted to spend our Thanksgiving in New York.

Part of me felt bad -- I'm an only child and not going back to Michigan meant my dad didn't have family to have dinner with -- but the thought of fighting the crowds to fly back on a crazy holiday weekend so I could pretend to be thrilled to eat turkey made Jim and Courtney's a hands-down winner.

Pay special attention to the geometry skills involved in getting a table long enough for the crowd diagonally wedged into their living room. Kudos to the hosts for a great meal, and for squeezing us all in.