A year ago, I invited those of you who were spending Thanksgiving looking at blogs to write a haiku about it. So I'm going to start this Second Annual Thanksgiving BlopPost with an invite to do the same, even though I'm posting this a lot later this year than last. I'll start with one of my own:
Massive crowds moving
here to there, and for a change
I was among them
In the past, I would look upon the prospect of a day like today with a dread that could macrame my intestines. Traveling to not one, but two of the most humanity-clogged places in the city, then making the train trip to my sister's for a holiday gathering? Preposterous. I was a dyed-in-the-wool city boy who used his years of experience to pilot my little boat away from the tsunami, not into it. Yet for this Thanksgiving, we made the decision to attend my friend's parade party on Central Park West and then, given our rapacious appetite for mammalian gridlock, head to Penn Station right after the parade was over, along with hundreds of thousands of our closest friends.
Before we went, I made a pact with myself. Normally I'm happiest when everything adheres to a schedule. If we fall behind, or miss the train we're aiming for, I pace and scowl like a caged cougar. But today, I had no schedule. We would get there when we got there, period. The going would be slow, and arduous in spots, but so effing what. We'll get there when we get there.
We got to the party at around 9:30, thanks to a very helpful building manager who sneaked us in the service entrance, and the boys had a ball watching the balloons from six floors up. I'm not much of a parade person, but I admit I liked it, too. The child safety bars kept us from seeing what was coming, so we hung your cameras out the window and took pictures up the road. I'm out of pocket now, but when I get back I'll post a bunch of them, many of which feature 1) lovely fall foliage and 2) a balloon's ass. The boys were especially enthusiastic about this second point, making sure to announce it was Shrek's butt! or Kermit's butt! or Dora's butt! as it wafted past.
Then came Phase Two, the trip back down the 1 train. And yes, I was surrounded by the deranged and aimless. And yes, the line for train tickets stretched well into the main corridor and into the bakery next door. But since I hadn't imposed any parameters on myself, there was nothing to stress about. I was with my family, after all, whom I love, even if every other word out of one of their mouths is about Pokemon.
I'm here now, in the quiet quiet sticks, inert at last and feeling like I've run a marathon. But I feel really good. And after I wake up tomorrow I'll feel even better, because I always sleep well without a Monster Garbage Truck rally outside my window.
Believe it or not, today I learned to relax. And I am very thankful for that.
