Of the many Thanksgivings I can forsee being away from home, I figured this was a good year to cross off "see Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade as pedestrian" on my life to-do list.

For those of you who love kicking butt at trivia nights, you may thank me for this later: the first balloon to appear in the parade? Felix the Cat in 1927 - and he was filled with air rather than helium. But wasn't the first parade in 1924? Yep, but no balloons... live animals borrowed from the Central Park Zoo! I expect a written thank-you when you win your team a round when you answer the bonus question correctly.

Anyway, it was an experience, again, that is uncannily unique to New York. So what if parades aren't your thing. Like Times Square, it's cool for the sheer fact that it can exist. I laugh to myself though, as I write this, because if you asked most New Yorkers what they thought of both those things, they'd say that they'd do anything to steer clear of the overwhelming calamity that either can be. As a transplant, I see past the lights, see past the crowds, see past the vast amounts of helium and see only a fascinating environment which enables such things to happen.

Photo 1: The first Mickey Mouse balloon to make an appearance in the Thanksgiving Day Parade on November 29, 1934 at 105th and Broadway.

Photo 2: The 4th version of Mickey Mouse appearing in the November 26, 2009 Thanksgiving Day Parade on the corner of 50th and 7th.