Thursday, December 24, 2015

The lights in the hood


It is Christmas Eve in New York City and the bells are ringing.


The only sign of snow in this town is in the blow-up snowperson on our street. I like the twinkly lights but the inflated decor is lost on me. These decorations went up as soon as the Halloween ones came down (and those went up in late September). They play carols. All day. And night.


Same block. Merry Christmas! Beware of the Dog!


The Moonstruck bakery. Time to watch the movie again. I recite the lines, by now.


The dark afternoons are lit by many trees. 

We have a small, fat tree. 

For Christmas dinner we'll eat what my parents are eating 8000 miles south and east, in Cape Town: lamb roast on a rack over a bed of potatoes which catch the drippings and become crisp. My mother will use rosemary, and I may use mugwort. 

The temperature in Cape Town's summer today was the same as ours, in midwinter.

May your Christmas be merry and bright. Even if it's just you. 

Feed yourself well.

 ______________________________



14 comments:

  1. Happy Christmas, Marie and Vince. Lamb was my family's tradition, but tonight we'll have salmon steaks and a salad.Hg is heading for mid thirties!
    Love to you both.

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    1. Thank you, Diane - and our love back to you. Our lamb is lambing and rain is dripping.

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  2. Happy Christmas! What a change in the weather since last year at this time.... is it global warming or global climate confusion? For us, its beef tenderloin (rare) rosemary roasted potatoes, roasted carrots with rum-soaked fruit cake for desert

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    1. Eet's a beeg El Nino... Your dinner sounds lovely.

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  3. Merry Christmas Marie & Vince. We are having ginger ale ham for Christmas, thank you very much. I am trying it in a crock pot set to warm all night. 65 degrees in the mountains of North Carolina today and the daffodils are poking their heads up already.

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    1. Ginger Ale Ham! How was it (I'm almost afraid to ask)... And we saw daffodil buds today - eep.

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  4. Merry Christmas!
    We had tornado sirens going off this afternoon, and I'm hearing thunder now at 10 p.m. on Christmas Eve. Strange weather. I'd be almost glad to see freezing temperatures. Christmas Day should be better here, and I hope it's a fine day for you, too.

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    1. Thank you, Diane - your tornadoes did not sound like fun at all. Where do you go - basement? In Brooklyn it is raining, and very mild.

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  5. Merry Christmas to you and Vince! We just returned from dinner with extended family and will have a much smaller gathering tomorrow with a friend whose children are with his ex ... turkey, green bean casserole [ :-) ] and apple pie. Hope 2016 brings you only the best.

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    1. ...so green bean casserole. Dish the dirt. Is it really so bad (I have never even seen one)? Thank you, webb - and the same for you and yours.

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  6. Merry Christmas to New York form Berlin, too. Here, it is also very warm (12 celsius) and that brought up the effect, that nobody says "Merry Christmas" here in the shops and in the house. I kept saying it, but getting discouraged. Still, we had a beautiful Christmas and a beautiful christmas tree.
    You find it on my blog, and, if you read German, two weeks ago, my thoughts about christmas lights on balconies.
    Have a very nice time,
    yours,
    Giorgio.

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    1. Vielen dank, Giorgio! And a late frohe Weinachten :-)

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  7. Merry Christmas, Marie and Vince, from Berkeley, California, where our family from Oregon and Brooklyn has gathered with our daughter and wife who live here. It is sunny and cold (for here in December)...beautiful, and we all just spent a couple of hours playing with our dogs at the leash-free expanse in the Berkeley Marina park on the Bay. Lots of joy in evidence there. I'm relishing discovering the Berkeley spirit once again (after studying here in 1968-69). Is it true that it is so warm in Brooklyn that people are having barbeques in their gardens? Happy New Year, Leslie

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    1. Hi Leslie - yes, the Brooklyn BBQ rumour is true. We had one two nights ago! Enjoy Berkeley, and say hi to Alice Waters for me.

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