I have been a New Yorker all my life, and my family’s Thanksgiving Day tradition for 17 years has been to watch the Macy’s parade on television. However, this year, I went to the parade with my friends. We woke up at 5 am and got to the parade very early. The weather turned out to be colder than my estimations, and I only wore a hoodie. But it was okay. I was with friends that would keep me warm. We talked and gradually huddled closer to each other and further away from the handrails, until a mother and child snuck into the empty spaces. But that was okay too. We were in the spirit of thanksgiving, and we were gracious for what we did have.
Jeffrey and Feleus went to get us tea from a Fluffy’s Cafe across the street and we drank hot tea together in the cold, waiting the 3 and a half hours for the parade to begin. I had never had so much fun waiting before. We joked and talked loudly, and all the people around us seemed to smile. We met Christians from Ohio, and a boy who played Pokemon the duration of the parade. And a mother even asked us to look after her kid who wanted to stand on the railings. I felt like an integral part of America.
When the parade began, I was mesmerized. We watched the floats come by for an hour and a half. We saw Buzz Lightyear, Pikachu, baseballs, basketballs, and Snoopie. Then we saw the marching bands and listened to the familiar American tunes. I had never felt such a connection to the American people, such a love for American characters (the pilgrims and Native Americans and even the cartoons), and such a deep yearning to be thankful for what America has provided me.
By the way, this is my first video. It’s cut up and splotchy, and the footage is shaky and unfocused because of my cold hands during the parade. But I think the good song makes up for the bad video! It’s called This Land is Your Land, an American hymn adapted by Jars of Clay. And to make a strange but relevant comparison, America is cut up and splotchy nowadays too. A lot people are swashbucklers or sloths or downright mean. However, American mythology has seemed to compose a song that overrides all that. Its great revolutionary story and the epic ideals that it was founded upon: they make me believe in America. I guess that just testifies to how great of an artwork America has made itself.
Artist: Many Artists
Title: Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Floats
Date of Work: 11/24/2011
Materials/Medium: Many, many things. Sculptures, metalworks, paintings
Duration: Yearly
Genre: Parade
Venue: The Streets of Manhattan
Friends? Jeffrey, Feleus, Jackie, Nancy
