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For me, Thanksgiving has always elicited a mixed bag of feelings.
On the plus side, there's the getting together with family by blood and family by choice; the turkeys cooked on a wood fire, all crispy and brown; and the enjoyment of a holiday not marred by rampant gift-giving.
On the minus side, there's the anniversary of my father's death, the whole gluttony thing, uptight pilgrims and the decimation of a populace. There's also the dreaded creamed onions; those I could live without.
So, when the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade was rerouted last year to pass directly beneath our office's gigantic, 9th floor balcony, I was largely indifferent. Besides, I'm short, which means that for me, parades typically involve elbows in the face and claustrophobia.
"Too bad," said my fellow Darumaites, "Get over it." Apparently, last year's parade viewed from our office balcony was so amazing, that not only did they insist I attend, they decided to invite our clients and throw a party.
And what a memorable day it was!
The balloons poked their noses around the corner at 42nd Street and headed down Sixth Avenue to Herald Square, a raucous magic carpet of colors unfurling at our feet. The view up and down the Avenue from our balcony was spectacular. At a glance, you could:
...judge which marching band was the most precise;
...follow the neon patterns of the cheerleader battalions, whose pompoms you could hear rustling all the way up on the 9th floor;
...take in a whole eight blocks' worth of parade in one swoop;
...compare and contrast the intriguing backsides of Buzz Lightyear, Hello Kitty and SpongeBob SquarePants. (It's not often you get to contemplate the butts of cartoon characters.)
Down on the second floor, however (our secondary viewing area, thanks to kind neighbors), it was a completely different parade.
Here you could see how much "work" Joan Rivers (portraying the Ice Queen) had had done (a lot), and how happy her daughter Melissa was to be riding shotgun on a horse (not very). You could read the banner that announced Mannheim Steamroller as the band on North Dakota's float (what, you were expecting The Clash?). You could see the faces of the balloon handlers as they walked down the street.
All of this got me thinking of our investment process.
