Bumpin’ around the apartment late on Thanksgiving morning, packing and dressing and getting ready to leave. Watching the parade

(Pet Peeve of the day: it’s “The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade” not "The Macy’s Day Parade.”)

In front of the main viewing stand at Herald Square, an ocean of white sweatshirts trimmed in blue performed a precision cheerleading routine, replete with human pyramids and flips and falls and catches, silver and blue pom-poms shimmering all the while. Matt Lauer (or was it Katie Couric?) told me that there were six hundred and thirty five performers on this cheerleading squad.

Later, I’m waiting for the C train at 50th & 8th, going up to Mommie’s house. The train seemed delayed—I thought that underground transportation would bypass the parade traffic. No such luck.

Finally, a train pulled into the station. And, like clowns out of a Volkswagon, a deluge of white sweatshirts trimmed in blue carrying shimmering silver and blue pom-poms streamed out of the train. A handsome young All-American male (the sort of young man I’d hope would be standing below to catch me, should I have to jump off the top of a human pyramid) stood by the second door of the last car as I waited for the flood to abate. He directed his companions to exit quickly and orderly; when there were no more white sweatshirts trimmed in blue in the car, he continued to hold the doors as we regular New Yorkers boarded the train, and he wished each and every one of us a Happy Thanksgiving.

As the train pulled out of the station, the platform all the way up to the 52nd Street exit was wall-to-wall cheerleaders. I think all 635 of them must have been staying at the Howard Johnson’s on 8th Avenue and 51st Street. As the C train rumbled up 8th Avenue, I marveled that sooooo many out-of-towners in one place (especially when that place was my train station when I was trying to go somewhere) had seemed so adorable to me.

They were almost as adorable as the little black girl in a bright yellow rain slicker who had been given a delightful present: she sat next to her Dad, shyly shaking her shimmering new silver and blue pom-poms.