Macy's Parade

When, I was a kid it was Christmas that couldn't come soon enough.  Now I really look forward to Thanksgiving.  The first thing I do is get a nice steaming hot cup of coffee or coco with marshmallows.  Then I sit in front of the TV and watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade.  While this is going on I'm being assaulted by the wonderful smells of a turkey dinner with all the trimmings.  Then the football!  Three games now!!  Then the meal, the family and then the twilight fog of being fuller than ever.

You probably think that's all pretty normal...well except the parade thing.  I get so much grief for watching the parade.  So, as a healthy macho male, who like guns, girls and gears I will attempt to defend my tradition.  

It starts with my love of old black and white movies.  When I was a kid I grew up with a little 13-inch black and white T.V.  We got three channels and PBS.(I know how did we ever survive?)  So needless to say all my movies were in black and white.  At Christmas time we always looked forward to watching "Its a Wonderful Life" and "Miracle on 34th Street"(If you haven't seen these rent them already.)  In "Miracle" it starts out in New York City at the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade.  As a kid it always fascinated me that it was an actual parade the really took place.  When I was a kid you were told everything you saw on T.V. was fake. (We didn't have reality T.V.)  So one of my many childhood wishes became to attend the Macy's Parade.

Now, I'm not a great fan of parades in general.  I've been to the Rose Bowl Parade, Town parades etc...  They don't interest me at all.  I'm not a fan of clowns, horse droppings or big men in little cars.  Macy's just seems to have a whole different appeal.  Maybe its the comfort factor or the fondness of childhood.  Whatever it is I will be watching.  Okay it's the big balloons crashing into things that I enjoy.