A Buttercupland First: Inflation Celebration

 

 

Before Thanksgiving totally retreats into memory, I'm happy to share photographs and impressions of  the Inflation Celebration, aka Balloon Preview for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Despite hoping to get to the Thanksgiving Eve preview for many years this was the first year that I made it. It wasn't the bright and sunny day that I'd dreamed about. It was overcast and windy. I was tempted to leave several times during the walk down Central Park West and around the American Museum of Natural History. But short of telling one of the many police officers along the route that I was physically unable to finish the viewing, I needed to walk the entire route, and so I did.

 I think I look reasonably chipper in my selfie with Paw Patrol...

 

...but I felt more like Doughboy when I was finally home that evening.

 

Baby Dino

 

Two of my favorite characters weren't balloons, but rather balloonicles. I was unfamiliar with the term "balloonicle," but it's a Macy's term for a balloon based vehicle. The Pillsbury Doughboy is a helium-filled balloon, but Baby Dino is filled with cold air and is powered by a driver driving a buggy. Whether a balloon or a balloonicle, Baby Dino is very cute.

 

Another cutie, and a balloonicle, is the Aflac Duck. I loved his bright  glowing heart and cozy scarf.

 

 

I'm glad I was there, but it may be both a first and a last for me. Of course if it's a sunny Thanksgiving Eve, 2019, I may just reconsider.

 

Though we may get a few warm days and it's not officially winter, it's still winter coat weather in New York. I keep thinking that it's still fall and I don't need a coat, gloves and scarf. But the minute I walk outside and the wind whips up from the Hudson River a block away, I remember why I wear a scarf. I did very mundane errands today and I was grateful for my layers as I waited for the bus. 

 

As ever, thanks for visiting and have a cozy evening.