Happy Holidays!

Walking to retrieve my new glasses, I came across this tree in Madison Square Park, a park I always forget about, since it is so far over east. I used to eat lunch there when I first moved to NYC and was temping. There are christmas trees all over NYC, and that's one of the magic things about the city at christmas. you could be having a really shitty day and all of a sudden, you're surrounded by globes of lights in a tree.

I like how the tree and the bushes around it match the Hanukkah colors of the building next door:



I'm a big fan of matching. I can't help it. I like the order it implies.

Anyway, the year is wrapping up, and we'll be taking off on Sunday for Florida for our annual pilgrimage to see the families. I've done the answers to that holiday meme that was travelling around, because I like this one. I like christmas time.

1. Eggnog, cider, or hot chocolate?

Hot chocolate. I also like hot tea, and cider is really good too. I don't really like eggnog. The consistency and taste together make me want to gag. I like hot chocolate best with big marshmallows.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just put them under the tree?

You know, what would be the fun if he just put them under the tree? I'm perplexed that anyone actually experienced Christmas that way. I mean, I guess I can see it if the gift is a tricycle or a surfboard or something, but still... My mom always had wrapped presents from her and wrapped presents from Santa, although we figured out pretty early on that they were all really from her by her handwriting on the tags.

3. Colored lights or white?

I like colored lights best, or the kind that blink in time to music or in some sort of pattern, but Spanky, being half-jew and wholey retentive, will only let me put up white lights, because she thinks the colored ones are tacky and too-christmassy.

4. When do you put your decorations up?

There is no set rule in our house now, but I usually wait until the first weekend after Thanksgiving. We only put up the white lights and stockings. One of these years I'm going to rebel and actually buy one of those living xmas trees that we can just put on the porch after the holidays. I never actually get around to it though.

5. What is your favorite Christmas dish?

I don't know that we have a traditional dish on Christmas, except for cookies and pumpkin pie (still). My mom usually just makes coffee and cinnamon rolls or pancakes after we've opened all our presents on Christmas morning.

6. Favorite Christmas memory as a child?

We used to spend every xmas with my Aunt Gerrie and Uncle Kit. Every other year it was at our house, and every other year it was at theirs in Ft. Lauderdale. They had a great house with a pool, and my cousin Jenny was only a year older than me. She had this beautiful white canopy bed which we used to climb all over. My best memories were staying up late with her in her room waiting for xmas morning so we could get our presents, while the adults stayed up downstairs drinking coffee and catching up. The waiting was unbearable.

7. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?

Honestly, I don't think I believed in Santa for very long, especially since I don't remember finding out that he didn't exist. My mom probably slipped and just told us, but there was also her handwriting on the tags, like I said before. She never actually gave up giving us presents from Santa. I probably have a few of them under her tree right now.

8. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?

Yes, in my family you could open ONE present on Christmas Eve. When I was younger, we'd do it after church services. I love going to church on Christmas but I don't do it anymore. No one else likes it. We always picked the one present we knew would suck, just to get it out of the way. One of our aunts usually gave my sister and I the same thing, usually lame, and something equally lame but boyish for my brother. So we'd just open that one and save the best stuff for Christmas morning.

9. Snow--love it or hate it?

Man, I really hate going out in the snow. Im from Florida, remember. I like to look at it though.

10. Can you ice skate?

Yeah, but I think I'm too old to really enjoy it now. I'm really scared of breaking something or otherwise hurting myself.

11. Do you remember your favorite gift?

When I was a kid, my favorite gift was probably Barbie dolls. I had a bunch of them. One year, I got that Barbie head that you can do the hair on and put make-up on. I was SO HAPPY. But my brother and sister took all the pristine colors that I was saving and smeared them all over her before I had a chance to use them.

12. What is the most important thing about the holidays for you?

I really like the sense of peace and happiness I get from looking at the decorations, and thinking about my life so far and what's to come. I like seeing my family too, but I don't feel like I have to see them on the holidays--actually visiting with them is better when there's not the added pressure of making things meaningful. To me the holidays are really about reflecting on yourself and your life and how you can do better in the new year.

13. What is your favorite holiday dessert?

Always pumpkin pie. I LOVE pumpkin pie. I like a good yule log cake too but I don't get that too often.

14. What tops your tree?

As I said, I'm not allowed to have a tree anymore, but at my mom's, I believe it is an angel that my brother made when he was like 6 or something. There's also one my Aunt Gerrie made before she died that we sometimes use.

15. Which do you prefer--giving or receiving?

I think I like giving best. I like watching people open presents that I think they'll like.

16. What's your favorite Christmas song?

I love Fairytale of New York. It's sad and bittersweet and shows the darker side of the holidays. I also like Christmas Wrapping by The Waitresses. My favorite traditional song is O Holy Night. It's pretty.

17. Candy canes--yuck or yum?

I only like the Hershey's chocolate mint ones. I can't even stand starlite mints for the most part. I do like them in peppermint bark though.


Anyway, lest you think that Sparky's side is being neglected here, I saw this car driving down 42nd street in NY on Thursday, and I'm sure the people inside would join me in wishing everyone a Happy Hanukkah: