Andrew J. Lederer

I'm watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

On TV.

But in hi-def.

Do you guys in the UK know about this parade? It's probably the most famous parade (along with maybe the Rose Parade) in the US. It's the one with all the gigantic, inflated character balloons. Sometimes, on a windy day, one of them will get away from its controllers and hurt someone. In fact, the woman who was burned when that small plane crashed into a NY apartment building recently had earlier been hurt by a Macy's Thanksgiving balloon.

I've probably seen the parade about seven times in person and I've viewed the balloons the night before as well. (You can watch them being inflated.) People head down to Macy's at 3 or 4 in the morning but I always watch it on the Upper West Side, where it starts, and tend to get there at the last minute. Somehow, there's always someplace to watch it from, even if it involves standing on a fire truck or someone's car. (In an increasingly "civilized" New York, it's not really acceptable anymore to stand on someone's car.)

Ooh! Santa's coming on NBC, which has the prime position outside Macy's. He already came on CBS (so to speak; don't think dirty), which is further uptown, in Times Square.

Parade's over. I guess it's really Christmastime now (although decorations have been appearing since around Halloween). Tomorrow is "Black Friday", when the stores start their Christmas selling season with big sales. It's called Black Friday 'cause it's supposed to be the day when stores go "in the black" and the year becomes a profitable one (but it doesn't always work that way). "It's Wonderful Life" will probably turn up on TV sometime today.

My sister's cooking turkey and stuffing upstairs. It's startin' to smell really good in here.

Yes (he said in cliched manner), I have much to be thankful for.

And so do you, I hope, even if you live somewhere where (gasp) you don't have Thanksgiving. (Next you're gonna tell me you live someplace where they didn't kill Indians.)

Ooh, again! There's a dog show on TV and the announcer-guy just used the term, "Turkey Day", the first time I've heard it this year.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Love,
Andrew