Glancing out the airplane window right now, as the snow covered mountains of the Western United States are segueing into the Grand Canyon that is being continuously carved and reshaped by the Colorado River, I find myself thinking, “Wow. This is gorgeous but this plane can not be flown fast enough for me tonight”. The assault of colors…from blindingly white snow to soft hues of oranges and browns and reds combine with the blue of the river below and the sky I am surrounded by at 40,000 . I often am humbled and marvel at what a staggeringly beautiful country these United States are. How lucky and blessed am I? I know. I know. I am grateful. Truly. But it’s Christmas Eve and I’m heading home to my hometown and my favorite place for the Christmas holiday season. New York City. As much as I love seeing all the beauty below me, above me and around me, there's no place like home. We land. We can't taxi to the gate fast enough. I can't explain it but I want to be home. Home is where my Mom is. I just want to be with my Mommy. That's right. I said it!!! Plus, come on, New York City!!! The city sparkles at Christmastime. The city is sassy and bright and shiny and all-around gorgeous this time of year.
Maybe I’m a bit biased having been born and raised in NYC, but I do think it is one of the most amazing places on Earth to be during the Christmas season. I just never get tired, from one year to the next, of making the pilgrimage to see the tree at Rockefeller Center. Sometimes I take the subway from Brooklyn into Manhattan, getting off at the 49th Street train station. I walk past 6th Avenue with the sculptures of giant red Christmas ornaments to my left (across from Radio City Music Hall) and the art that is a giant sculpture of a strand of Christmas lights to my right…have to admit, I hadn’t seen that before this year. Must be new…. I enjoy having friends from out of town join me for the experience but I have to tell you, it’s very important that my Mom be there too. It is part of our Christmas tradition…much like the driving through our Brooklyn neighborhood Bay Ridge as well as Dyker Heights to see the over-the-top home decorations at Christmastime . With each passing year, the decorations and animated characters and hundreds of thousands of lights seem to increase. And I have to tell you, we drive in my car, critiquing the decorations. There seem to be a fair amount of those inflatable snowmen being displayed. Was there a sale? We are seeing a lot of those this year along with the illuminated reindeer…but there is also the home that has converted their property to a Dickensian village straight out of A Christmas Carol and the home where there is a nutcracker or two that stand more than 15 feet high and the home where I defy you to find an inch of the façade that isn’t adorned with holiday lights and the home where there are animated skaters skating in a pseudo-ice rink…it’s all fabulous and fun and part of the Christmas in NY experience. But back to Manhattan…(In the spirit of the holiday season, I will not tell you the results of the critiques…lets just say any and efforts are appreciated).
Now I have to admit. I know from previous experience, what to expect once I get to Rockefeller Plaza…I know there will be this behemoth, larger than life, fabulous Christmas tree adorned with more lights than one could possibly count, the branches starting to point down toward the sidewalks a bit because gravity works isn’t magic on everything , doesn’t it? And yet still ….I hold off as long as I can before I turn the corner to see the tree…I’ll stop at a few shops along the way…I’ll pretend to have some interest in yet another Magnolia Bakery location that seems to be popping up around the city… I know that skaters will be gliding on the ice to the tune of Have a Holly Jolly Christmas. I know I’ll see the parade of illuminated angels along the Promenade leading up to the tree with the Saks Fifth Avenue snowflakes twinkling behind the tourists, visitors, tree-gazers, New Yorkers…all making for a pretty spectacular backdrop….and yet still there is that magical, truly magical moment, when the corner is turned and I am convinced the tree has just been waiting for Mom and I.
We have arrived. It is beautiful. Pretty during the day, yes, but I love seeing it the most at night.
Most years I actually do a Fifth Avenue drive-by. Well after midnight, Mom and I will be in my car and we’ll drive down Fifth Avenue and see the sights from the car window because sometimes it’s just too darn chilly to get out of the car. By that time, most of the tourists have gone to wherever tourists go after midnight; it feels like the city is rightfully ours once again. The one exception to getting out of the car is when we get to the window display at Lord and Taylor. I park right in front of the store (impossible to do during the day as I would be breaking every parking rule known to mankind and the City of NY…and I would never do that!). We tend to have the window displays pretty much to ourselves at one in the morning. It is true. Believe it or not, it is truly possible to feel like the city belongs exclusively to oneself..sometimes…even in the midst of there being eight million inhabitants and seemingly as many visitors sometimes. It is those moments of exclusivity that feel like a Christmas gift just for me and Mom.
We have to make sure to see the Swarovski snowflake that dangles, glistens and hovers over the intersection of 57th Street and Fifth Avenue at the corners of Expensive Street and If- you- have- to- ask- how- much- it- cost, you- can’t- afford- it Street. Oh, oh, oh....what's this? Didn't Cartier used to have a big red ribbon around the facade of its store on Fifth Avenue. Now added to the opulent mix this year is the dazzlingly brilliant red twinkling lights that combine to be a big gift wrapping ribbon around the Cartier building. Wait. I see something else up ahead. Oh, wow. Now Fendi has gotten into the spirit and its store facade is wrapped in a twinkling, diamond-like belt. Come on, you have to admit...how many cities do you know that accessorize their buildings?! :) I love this city!!!
The thing that amazes me is that whether four-years old or 48 years old, the wonder and glory of it all is still the same for me.
My Mom was asking me the other day what I need for Christmas. “Estelle, you are going to be disappointed this year because there’s no big gift. You are too fussy and I don’t know what to get you and I'm on a fixed income and…..”
Mom, here it is in print. Read this.
I already got exactly what I need for Christmas. When I say I do not need anything, I mean it. All these moments that collide and combine to define Christmas. That's all I need. Want? Well, of course, there are some things I want. That Mackenzie-Childs store on 57th Street? You know, the one that has the whimsical multi-patterned, multi-colored, tassled-legged upholstered chair? The chair that retails for 4,000 dollars?! The one that has an ottoman that would be perfect in my living room but would be the difference between me buying that ottoman or paying my car insurance for the year?! Sure, there are things I want. Pipe dreams for now. But really, truly…in terms of what I need? My hearts' desire?
The joy of Christmas is when I realize…
There is such a joy and comfort in the continuity of ritual and tradition . To celebrate a moment that is steeped in divine wonder is a gift. Spending time with my Mom and with friends that I don’t get to see everyday but I love every day regardless of the distance between us…that is a gift.
To gaze upon all these symbols of the holidays…to turn to my Mom after decorating our Christmas tree at my house and ask her, “So what do you think of the tree?’…and hear her say…
“It’s beautiful. Perfect”….
“Mom, see, the bells”, I ask her….There are two glass Christmas ornaments shaped like bells, frosted white bells with rainbow stripes around their edges. Out of all the ornaments that have been put on our Christmas trees for the past 48 years, they are the only two that have survived year after year. We always place them toward the very top of the tree…one on the right…one a little lower to the left. I always hope they will make it through another Christmas. They are the first bulbs I look for when I go through the ornament box whilst decorating the tree. I sigh a sigh of relief when I see they are fine; I always smile as I ever-so-gingerly place them in their places of honor on the tree.
“Oh, yes…I see them. There they are", my Mom tells me as she smiles. We sit and just look at the tree. I cross my eyes so I can see twice as many lights…
That moment.
Together.
That is my Christmas gift. It’s all I need.
That’s my Christmas in New York City, everyone. Just a sliver of it, actually. There has been afternoon tea at Lady Mendl's Tea Salon at the Inn at Irving Place and gift-exhanging moments smack in the middle of Broadway at Times Square...nothing like exchanging gifts with my friend Lisa in the middle of what used to be oncoming vehicular traffic on Broadway (near where the ball drops to usher in the New Year). The fact that Times Square, the crossroads of the world, is now a pedestrian mall still makes my head spin but that's another story for another time.
It's Christmas Eve. Mom and I are getting ready to attend midnight mass tonight where the service is in Polish. No, I do not speak a word of Polish. Mom will remember moments from when she was growing up, I'm sure. I just want to go to church tonight and say thank you....in any language....because there is no doubt in my mind that....
.... prayers get answered.
.... wishes come true and....
..... blessings are received .
May your holiday be filled with bundles of blessings and may the wishes you hold most dear come true
Love and Merry Christmas….ETC
Maybe I’m a bit biased having been born and raised in NYC, but I do think it is one of the most amazing places on Earth to be during the Christmas season. I just never get tired, from one year to the next, of making the pilgrimage to see the tree at Rockefeller Center. Sometimes I take the subway from Brooklyn into Manhattan, getting off at the 49th Street train station. I walk past 6th Avenue with the sculptures of giant red Christmas ornaments to my left (across from Radio City Music Hall) and the art that is a giant sculpture of a strand of Christmas lights to my right…have to admit, I hadn’t seen that before this year. Must be new…. I enjoy having friends from out of town join me for the experience but I have to tell you, it’s very important that my Mom be there too. It is part of our Christmas tradition…much like the driving through our Brooklyn neighborhood Bay Ridge as well as Dyker Heights to see the over-the-top home decorations at Christmastime . With each passing year, the decorations and animated characters and hundreds of thousands of lights seem to increase. And I have to tell you, we drive in my car, critiquing the decorations. There seem to be a fair amount of those inflatable snowmen being displayed. Was there a sale? We are seeing a lot of those this year along with the illuminated reindeer…but there is also the home that has converted their property to a Dickensian village straight out of A Christmas Carol and the home where there is a nutcracker or two that stand more than 15 feet high and the home where I defy you to find an inch of the façade that isn’t adorned with holiday lights and the home where there are animated skaters skating in a pseudo-ice rink…it’s all fabulous and fun and part of the Christmas in NY experience. But back to Manhattan…(In the spirit of the holiday season, I will not tell you the results of the critiques…lets just say any and efforts are appreciated).
Now I have to admit. I know from previous experience, what to expect once I get to Rockefeller Plaza…I know there will be this behemoth, larger than life, fabulous Christmas tree adorned with more lights than one could possibly count, the branches starting to point down toward the sidewalks a bit because gravity works isn’t magic on everything , doesn’t it? And yet still ….I hold off as long as I can before I turn the corner to see the tree…I’ll stop at a few shops along the way…I’ll pretend to have some interest in yet another Magnolia Bakery location that seems to be popping up around the city… I know that skaters will be gliding on the ice to the tune of Have a Holly Jolly Christmas. I know I’ll see the parade of illuminated angels along the Promenade leading up to the tree with the Saks Fifth Avenue snowflakes twinkling behind the tourists, visitors, tree-gazers, New Yorkers…all making for a pretty spectacular backdrop….and yet still there is that magical, truly magical moment, when the corner is turned and I am convinced the tree has just been waiting for Mom and I.
We have arrived. It is beautiful. Pretty during the day, yes, but I love seeing it the most at night.
Most years I actually do a Fifth Avenue drive-by. Well after midnight, Mom and I will be in my car and we’ll drive down Fifth Avenue and see the sights from the car window because sometimes it’s just too darn chilly to get out of the car. By that time, most of the tourists have gone to wherever tourists go after midnight; it feels like the city is rightfully ours once again. The one exception to getting out of the car is when we get to the window display at Lord and Taylor. I park right in front of the store (impossible to do during the day as I would be breaking every parking rule known to mankind and the City of NY…and I would never do that!). We tend to have the window displays pretty much to ourselves at one in the morning. It is true. Believe it or not, it is truly possible to feel like the city belongs exclusively to oneself..sometimes…even in the midst of there being eight million inhabitants and seemingly as many visitors sometimes. It is those moments of exclusivity that feel like a Christmas gift just for me and Mom.
We have to make sure to see the Swarovski snowflake that dangles, glistens and hovers over the intersection of 57th Street and Fifth Avenue at the corners of Expensive Street and If- you- have- to- ask- how- much- it- cost, you- can’t- afford- it Street. Oh, oh, oh....what's this? Didn't Cartier used to have a big red ribbon around the facade of its store on Fifth Avenue. Now added to the opulent mix this year is the dazzlingly brilliant red twinkling lights that combine to be a big gift wrapping ribbon around the Cartier building. Wait. I see something else up ahead. Oh, wow. Now Fendi has gotten into the spirit and its store facade is wrapped in a twinkling, diamond-like belt. Come on, you have to admit...how many cities do you know that accessorize their buildings?! :) I love this city!!!
The thing that amazes me is that whether four-years old or 48 years old, the wonder and glory of it all is still the same for me.
My Mom was asking me the other day what I need for Christmas. “Estelle, you are going to be disappointed this year because there’s no big gift. You are too fussy and I don’t know what to get you and I'm on a fixed income and…..”
Mom, here it is in print. Read this.
I already got exactly what I need for Christmas. When I say I do not need anything, I mean it. All these moments that collide and combine to define Christmas. That's all I need. Want? Well, of course, there are some things I want. That Mackenzie-Childs store on 57th Street? You know, the one that has the whimsical multi-patterned, multi-colored, tassled-legged upholstered chair? The chair that retails for 4,000 dollars?! The one that has an ottoman that would be perfect in my living room but would be the difference between me buying that ottoman or paying my car insurance for the year?! Sure, there are things I want. Pipe dreams for now. But really, truly…in terms of what I need? My hearts' desire?
The joy of Christmas is when I realize…
There is such a joy and comfort in the continuity of ritual and tradition . To celebrate a moment that is steeped in divine wonder is a gift. Spending time with my Mom and with friends that I don’t get to see everyday but I love every day regardless of the distance between us…that is a gift.
To gaze upon all these symbols of the holidays…to turn to my Mom after decorating our Christmas tree at my house and ask her, “So what do you think of the tree?’…and hear her say…
“It’s beautiful. Perfect”….
“Mom, see, the bells”, I ask her….There are two glass Christmas ornaments shaped like bells, frosted white bells with rainbow stripes around their edges. Out of all the ornaments that have been put on our Christmas trees for the past 48 years, they are the only two that have survived year after year. We always place them toward the very top of the tree…one on the right…one a little lower to the left. I always hope they will make it through another Christmas. They are the first bulbs I look for when I go through the ornament box whilst decorating the tree. I sigh a sigh of relief when I see they are fine; I always smile as I ever-so-gingerly place them in their places of honor on the tree.
“Oh, yes…I see them. There they are", my Mom tells me as she smiles. We sit and just look at the tree. I cross my eyes so I can see twice as many lights…
That moment.
Together.
That is my Christmas gift. It’s all I need.
That’s my Christmas in New York City, everyone. Just a sliver of it, actually. There has been afternoon tea at Lady Mendl's Tea Salon at the Inn at Irving Place and gift-exhanging moments smack in the middle of Broadway at Times Square...nothing like exchanging gifts with my friend Lisa in the middle of what used to be oncoming vehicular traffic on Broadway (near where the ball drops to usher in the New Year). The fact that Times Square, the crossroads of the world, is now a pedestrian mall still makes my head spin but that's another story for another time.
It's Christmas Eve. Mom and I are getting ready to attend midnight mass tonight where the service is in Polish. No, I do not speak a word of Polish. Mom will remember moments from when she was growing up, I'm sure. I just want to go to church tonight and say thank you....in any language....because there is no doubt in my mind that....
.... prayers get answered.
.... wishes come true and....
..... blessings are received .
May your holiday be filled with bundles of blessings and may the wishes you hold most dear come true
Love and Merry Christmas….ETC
Lovely post Estelle. Thanks for sharing your Christmas experience. I too just need to be with the people I love to make it a perfect Christmas! Pam
ReplyDelete