Tis the Season

Many people feel Thanksgiving marks the beginning of the holiday season and the hangover of New Year's Day the ending. Some use Black Friday (or Cyber Monday) as the true start of the season and the "returns" weekend after Christmas Day as the finale. I would like to add another way to look at the punctuation of the holidays.

The holiday season begins with the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and ends with the Rose Bowl Parade. Coast to coast, through party after party, eggnog and champagne, food and gifts - it is these two events that bookend the season.

The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is a tradition unlike any other. Bands, balloons, floats and the arrival of Santa are televised across the country. Marching bands from as far away as Hawaii raise funds and make the trip to be part of the biggest turkey day event in the world. This year's parade included the Fred Hill Briefcase Drill Team and a new Keith Haring "Heart" Balloon. But my favorite was the Awesome Original Second Time Arounders - a marching band with members from 18-81 years old. The only requirement to join is that you marched with a band in high school or college. How cool is that!?

Santa brings up the rear of the parade making New York City one of the last few cities in America that waits until Thanksgiving to welcome the jolly old elf into town and to light up the Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center a couple of days later.

Yes, the season of giving is now officially in full swing. And in 30 shorts days it will be all over. For those of us on the east coast it is followed by three months of grey, snow, ice and frigid blowing winds. No wonder we like to watch the Rose Bowl Parade as we sip our Bloody's on New Year's Day! All of those flower petals, the bright California sunshine, the smiling queen and her court - it's almost too much to handle. But it also is a reminder that those flowers will once again bloom in NEPA, the sun will come back to warm us and instead of shoveling snow we'll be putting in mulch and planting our gardens.

So Happy Holidays everyone! I plan on enjoying them fully. I began on Thanksgiving Day listening to Arlo Guthrie's Alices Restaurant and I'll end it with Auld Lang Syne as we watch the ball drop. Whatever your traditions, take time to enjoy them - and share them!