It is a time of resurrection of the daylight. The winter solstice is past. The days are getting longer. The holidays are closing down. Chanukah is past, Christmas has gone by. And what did it all mean. Pretty candles for Chanukah; pretty tree for Christmas; lots of presents. But mostly what it really means is spending time with family and friends. I couldn’t put any more religious significance to any of it than I can for any other time (or day) of the year. Every day has its own importance. But what this season does give me is a reason to visit my children because there is no school.
Today was the real holiday excursion: Tamar, Damian and I went into The City for the day. Where if you stand still on the street you get run over by people. And it was extraordinarily crowded today. I lived here for almost twenty-five years but I guess I’ve become a country girl. The crowds were, I must admit, overwhelming.
First we went to visit my friend Harriet on the Upper West Side near where we used to live. Harriet and I met in Riverside Park with our very young children (three and nine months) who became fast friends. We’ve kept up a friendship. From there we went to lunch with my nephew Rob at a Jewish Dairy Restaurant above the diamond exchange on 47th street. (I don’t think I have seen that many Jews in one place since I left Manhattan twenty-two years ago. It brought back a lot of memories for living here and from my childhood.) Then we walked around midtown, saw the tree and skaters at Rockefeller Center, the amazing window displays on Fifth Avenue, and treated ourselves to pastries at an elegant Japanese bakery. We were exhausted by the time we got on the train to come back here. Too tired to download all the photos we captured of the City. Another time.
Posted by leya at December 27, 2006 10:19 PM