The Moon Was in the Seventh House and Jupiter Aligned with Mars...

Yes things were set up just right for yours truly and his cohorts yesterday.  We participated in an event of historic proportions and then had dinner with my family and desert with my girlfriend's folks, travelling about 90 miles and still got home by 8:00 PM for the little one's bed time.  Peace, love and good cheer followed us throughout the day and everything I have to be thankful for was reinforced on this day of Thanksgiving.  I cried a bit, laughed a lot, got mad at traffic, made friends with strangers and embraced my family and my girl's family.  It was a very special day indeed.
     There are all sorts of ideas swirling in my happy little mind, but for now I want to leave my personal story behind and focus on the aforementioned "event of historic proportion" the parade I went to in New York City yesterday.

     I was shocked to learn that the estimated attendance at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade was between 3 and 3.5 million people.

 If you don't want to be alone at the holiday, here's a place you can be sure to have company!  The number of spectators is truly staggering.

It is about the same number of people that make the hajj or pilgrimage to Mecca each year.  It is as large a crowd as the biggest antiwar protest ever held.  There are some single day religious or funereal gatherings that dwarf this event but c'mon this has to be the most fun 3 million people can have at once.


 

Watching the surreal spectacle of giant cartoon characters and odd objects floating down what is normally one of the busiest streets in one of the world's great city's is a rare joy.  It brings out a throng of kid's, people entertaining kid's and kid's at heart.

 We were treated to marching bands from throughout the U.S. and elaborate floats of all manner of theme.  Oh, my!

I know the the holiday has a real history, very different from the myth we've been taught and tend to perpetuate, but today I am choosing to celebrate with the celebrants in the spirit of the the original pagan harvest festival from which Thanksgiving has sprung.  I hope this short photo essay brings you a little of the warmth and fun I enjoyed yesterday.  Have a great weekend.  Oh by the way, I haven't forgotten the promised entry about the "trauma of my tweens" but I'm letting current events drive the blog for a bit before returning to the main narrative....