I have done some odd things in my life!
This was one of them:
overseeing the creation of a balloon
for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade.
I was just going through some old images
on my computer and found this one
from 10 years ago,
when I handled PR for Honey Nut Cheerios.
Their bee mascot was one of three
new Macy’s balloons that year.
To my surprise, I found the process
to create him truly fascinating.
A whole team of artists
work in a special, top-secret studio
in New Jersey
to create and maintain
all the balloons and floats for the parade.
They are perfectionists,
eager to make every single detail just right.
This photo is from a test flight
in a Macy’s parking lot.
I remember it being a beautiful,
crisp fall day and marveling
at all the work, people and time
it took to make this big bee take flight.
A decade later,
I still think of all the labor and love
those behind-the-scenes artists
put into each element of that parade.
One morning a year,
the streets of New York
become their blank canvas
and they get to paint the town red
and let their art take flight.
