Michael J. Cargill Photography

Two years ago my parents came to the east coast to spend Thanksgiving with my sister and I. As they’d never been in New York at holiday time, my mother thought it would be a fun family outing to attend the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, and asked if I would take her.  Being the dutiful son I am I responded – no.

It’s not that I don’t love my mother, and wouldn’t do anything for her, it’s that I know my mother, and I know New York, and knowing my mother and New York I knew that while she thought it might be fun in theory, in actuality – she would have hated it! If you’ve ever attended a big NY event – The Macy’s Parade, The Halloween Parade, The Pride Parade, New Years Eve in Times Square – you know one thing – IT’S CROWDED AS HELL!!! You can’t see what you came to see, you can’t move, you get pushed, jostled, shoved, and you sure as hell can’t find/use a bathroom. Needless to say, we ended up watching the parade that year like sane people – at home, on the couch, sipping coffee.

The next day we went Christmas shopping in midtown. My mother of course wanted to see the windows at Macy’s…..after battling the crowd for about 5 minutes she proclaimed “OK I’m ready to go now, it’s way too crowded”

This year, I decided to beat the crowds (and get a head start) by shooting the parade balloons before the parade even began, late at night, at the starting point on the upper west side. So these photos are for my mother to enjoy from the comfort of her computer.