Madeline (Giles) DeJournett is the Advance writer for the North Stoddard Countian. A retired high school English/history teacher, she spent 32 years teaching in 5 schools in Missouri and Alaska. These days, she lives quietly with a menagerie of wild and domestic animals on 52 secluded acres in the remote Tillman hills south of Advance. She graduated from Dexter High School in 1960 and Southeast Missouri State in 1964. She can be contacted at advancensc@sbcglobal.net.

Macy's Day Mahem--a rerun

Posted Thursday, November 22, 2012, at 10:36 AM

The Cat in the Hat sails through the streets of New York in an earlier parade. This balloon was banished from the parade, after breaking free and doing significant damage. Since then, the guy lines seem to have been shortened on the floats.

This is a blog which I originally posted on Thursday, Nov. 26, 2009. With the Macy's Day parade coming up today, my Minnesota son is already taking bets on which of the giant balloons will break loose and wreak havoc on the street. This blog also reveals how much more popular our Statesman blogs were in 2009. We had a legion of readers who seem to have fallen away these days.

The Macy's Parade just isn't what it used to be, ever since New York resident Kathleen Caronna was almost killed in 1997, when a mammoth Cat in the Hat balloon went out of control and knocked a lamppost onto her head.

The parade was a tradition in our household in the days before we actually had choices. It was the only game in town, so my kids sat in rapt attention, waiting for a balloon to break out from its leash and start ripping down the streets of New York.

There was a gargantuan Goodyear Tire Man -- or was it the Stay Puft Marshmallow guy? Am I confusing the Thanksgiving parade with the first Ghostbusters movie?? I think that's called "mixing your metaphors..."

Anyway, it was a much more exciting time. In the safer society of 2009, 3 million people line the streets to watch a pretty lame show with compact balloons on short tethers. I'm still watching for the Pink Panther, but I believe he's been retired.

My daughter, curious about that long ago accident, looked up the incident on the web. I had remembered the culprit as the Pink Panther balloon, which was himself pretty rowdy, but history set us straight -- It was Dr. Seuss's mischievous feline friend.

However, I was amazed to learn that the Cat's victim was more unlucky than I previously thought. Not only was she in a coma for a month after her freak accident on the corner of 72nd Street and Central Park West, but in October, 2006, a plane crashed into the bedroom of her apartment at 72nd Street and York avenue. The flight instructor was killed, but Mrs. Caronna was unjured. She came home to the apartment only minutes after the crash to find her bedroom on fire.

How unlucky (or lucky?) can one person get? Do you think people follow her around to see if something else is going to happen to her?? The report also neglected to tell how much settlement money she got out of this series of unfortunate events.

I called my son Todd up in Minnesota this Thanksgiving morning, and, sure enough, he and his three children were watching the parade.

Sorry, Todd Douglas, I don't believe the Pink Panther - with all his stringy appendages - is going to make an appearance this year. You'll have to make do with those fat little weiner dogs and Snoopy balloons hugging the ground like beetles, hiding from the billowing New York breezes.

From the sunny southern climes of Memphis on the Mississippi, this is your roving reporter, Madeline, wishing she had some pun'kin pie!

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I was also (trying) to watch the parade on CBS and NBC, was so disappointed with all the talk and introducing special guests it was ruined for me. I wanted to see the floats, balloons, and marching bands not hear someone pitching a new show or seeing celebrities, I wanted to see the crowds. Oh well, everything has changed and I'm not sure for the best.

Have a great Thanksgiving friends, see you later.

-- Posted by Dexterite1 on Thu, Nov 26, 2009, at 10:13 AM
Just wondering MD, did you get the kinks worked out for your hi-speed satellite internet service?

-- Posted by Dexterite1 on Thu, Nov 26, 2009, at 10:15 AM

Madeline DeJournett's response:
No, D, I couldn't get a consistant signal out here in the bookdocks, so I had to cancel the service. They had sent me a bill for $105.00; they cancelled all of it but $20.00. That was supposedly for the time I WAS able to get online. (which was hardly any time at all!)
I'm not sure what I'm going to do now. Everything's caving in on me at the same time -- computer, cell phone....Now all I need is for my refrigerator to stop running!!
Happy Thanksgiving! Regarding the luck of people, last week during our nor'easter one of our neighbors had a tree fall through his roof. He said he has only owned two houses and both have had a tree fall on it.

-- Posted by cheers4dhs on Thu, Nov 26, 2009, at 6:37 PM
Where does he live?

-- Posted by goat lady on Fri, Nov 27, 2009, at 7:13 AM
Is it possible to be "bah humbug" about the Thanksgiving Day Parade? If so, that's me! I get tired of the two hosts constantly telling us how happy they are to be there and how "awesome" it is!

-- Posted by lovebooks on Mon, Nov 30, 2009, at 11:59 AM
Yeah, it is traditionally B-O-R-I-N-G! The only thing it ever had going for it was the possibility of death and dismemberment by a runaway balloon! If they're gonna tame the inflatible creatures, why watch???

-- Posted by goat lady on Mon, Nov 30, 2009, at 2:42 PM
Sorry MD you couldn't get a decent signal, but $20.00 for a trial seems ridiculous, but ATT needs the money!!!

On the parade I muted the sound but still there was 70% showing hosts gabbing and 30% floats.

-- Posted by Dexterite1 on Mon, Nov 30, 2009, at 3:40 PM
Hey, GL, he lives in Virginia now, but I am not sure where he lived when the first tree fell on his house.......Re the Macy's parade, my daughter was an all-star cheerleader who marched in the parade in 1995. A great experience.

-- Posted by cheers4dhs on Mon, Nov 30, 2009, at 7:46 PM
D, how could ATT need the money? They just keep gobbling up companies! Remember when the gov't broke up their monopoly? And look at 'em now!

Cheers, if he lives in Virginia, he's gotta expect a tree to fall on his house - what with all the hurricanes they have!

-- Posted by goat lady on Mon, Nov 30, 2009, at 7:58 PM
GL, actually, we do not have many hurricanes, but a lot of nor'easters which bring high winds and flooding in the coastal areas. We also have sooooo many trees which is a problem with the high wind and the occasional ice storm!

-- Posted by cheers4dhs on Mon, Nov 30, 2009, at 9:15 PM
gl, that ATT remark was kinda tongue in cheek, they have run everyone else almost out of business. Since buying Singular they have almost a monopoly again.

-- Posted by Dexterite1 on Mon, Nov 30, 2009, at 10:01 PM
Ah, I missed your irony, dexter! You know, I switched from Verizon (which was AmeriTech when I got my old bag phone) to Cingular, thinking I could avoid ATT -- so, imagine my horror, when ATT bought out Cingular! ARRRRRGGGG!!!

Cheers, I've been to Norfolk. I LOVE all those pink crepe myrtle trees! In this part of the country, they're just bushes.

-- Posted by goat lady on Tue, Dec 1, 2009, at 6:31 AM
Good Morning GL, yes the crepe myrtle trees are beautiful and plentiful in Virginia and they have a long blooming season. They are small ornamental trees which do not pose a threat - the sea pines on the other hand....yikes!

-- Posted by cheers4dhs on Tue, Dec 1, 2009, at 9:58 AM
Okay, I'll bite! What are "sea pines"?

-- Posted by goat lady on Tue, Dec 1, 2009, at 12:27 PM
Sea Pines are very tall soft pine trees that produce many pine cones, drop tons of pine needles and have a shallow root system so they are the first trees to fall in a wind storm. They are called Sea Pines because they are found near the coast.

-- Posted by cheers4dhs on Tue, Dec 1, 2009, at 9:38 PM
So - not a sought-after tree, I gather - something like silver maples around here. They grow fast, but they're easily damaged by the wind.

-- Posted by goat lady on Tue, Dec 1, 2009, at 9:47 PM
Exactly, GL.

-- Posted by cheers4dhs on Tue, Dec 1, 2009, at 10:18 PM
Hmmm, I was disappointed that I spent the morning in the kitchen with a bird and some yams, while you all watched the parade. I listened to some of the bands, as I peeled potatoes. It was a grand way to "see" the parade, and I just didn't know it!

-- Posted by GONENOW on Wed, Dec 2, 2009, at 3:25 PM
Just to add a little more to this story, that plane that crashed into her apartment was being flown by NY Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle. I think if anything, this lady should have realized she needed to get out of the city as fast as possible. Not a good sign when you are nearly killed twice by two different New York City icons.

-- Posted by Crash Davis on Thu, Dec 3, 2009, at 11:51 AM
Hahaha!! That is hilarious, Crash! I would love to read an update on her!

From the information above, it would seem that Cory Lidle survived, but his instructor didn't! Wonder whose fault the crash was??

-- Posted by goat lady on Thu, Dec 3, 2009, at 1:47 PM
Ahhhh, thanksgiving memories. Many changes the past 3 years, who could have imagined, opportunities appeared, dreams fulfilled.

Happy thanksgiving my friends, miss you cheers4dhs, crash davis, lovebooks, you are missed.

-- Posted by Dexterite1 on Thu, Nov 22, 2012, at 6:44 AM
Good morning, Dexterite! I hope your Thanksgiving 2012 is a warmer, happier one than the one you were having three years ago, when we talked on this Thanksgiving blog of 2009.

I know that my own circumstances are far happier than they were then. Who could have known how our lives would change? Life is truly a mystery, and God does answer prayers.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

-- Posted by goat lady on Thu, Nov 22, 2012, at 6:52 AM
I too, miss the many contributors of a few years back, even Shannon Hoon and Layne Staley. They were always contradictory but added a flavour all of their own !

-- Posted by wartz on Sun, Nov 25, 2012, at 5:47 AM
Well said wartz, these folks are missed and left for various reasons I am sure.

Hello again to you, always good to see an old friend.

-- Posted by Dexterite1 on Sun, Nov 25, 2012, at 6:51 AM
Hi, wartz--long time, no see!

It would gripe my gut--big time--if I were forced to admit that I missed Hoon and Layne Staley, but I acknowledge that Hoon's final words come back to haunt me, when he said that this site would die without his contentious contribution.

I never thought he could stay away.

-- Posted by goat lady on Mon, Nov 26, 2012, at 6:27 AM

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