My Thanksgiving column from two years ago:
When I was a child, Christmas was by far my favorite holiday, for all kinds of reasons — the presents, the tree, almost every house in the neighborhood suddenly strung with lights. Now, seeing the holiday season from the other side of the parenting coin, Thanksgiving seems like Christmas stripped down to the latter’s most essential and enjoyable parts — good food, a quick prayer, and family too long unseen around a table — and missing the parts of our overly commercialized Christmas that I can easily do without: the challenge of finding the right gift, the crush of shoppers, strings of lights emerging from the closet in a Gordian knot, and one too many choruses of “Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer.”
As Thanksgiving 2008 arrives, we have much to be grateful for. If you’re on the other side of the aisle, you’re thankful for Election Day victories — Al Franken, for one, is thrilled about the latest batch of “missing” votes found under some seat cushions. But if you’re disappointed by the election, the four-day weekend and its traditions are a soothing reminder that — despite a year being inundated with Orwellian images of a stylized face and empty slogan, and reiterated pledges that “we will change this country” — some parts of American life are gloriously impervious to change. The best parts of life are timeless, and beyond the reach even of the rapacious hand of the most ambitious politician.
For millions of households across the nation, Thanksgiving morning means tuning in to the Macy’s parade. It will feature hammy song-and-dance numbers from Broadway shows you may never see. The floats will pass a bit too quickly, and the syrupy slow songs will go on too long. But the balloons will still bob down Central Park West and Broadway — safely, we hope. Alas, this year’s lineup glaringly omits the Charlie Brown and Snoopy balloons — but Kermit the Frog and Ronald McDonald managed to make the cut. And the windswept procession will end once again with Santa Claus, launching the official start to the Christmas season — despite the fact that many stores will have had their decorations up for some time.
It’s one of my favorite pieces.
And Snoopy is in the parade this year.