Care Bears on Fire — Park Slope’s leading kid core band, they’re hotter than hot with a new album and a growing following.
And hear The Mighty Handful, Henry Crawford’s cool new band. This is what Jack G. and Henry have been up to since Cool and Unusual broke up.
2 p.m. Saturday. Union Hall. Should be a really great show. See you there.
Union Hall
702 Union Street @ 5th Ave.
Brooklyn, NY 11215
718.638.4400
I got this email this morning from a reader of OTBKB.
My wife, daughters and I have been Park Slopers for several years and
are
dedicated to the neighborhood and the community.My wife was mugged around 8pm on New Year’s Day on 8th Ave and 2nd
Street by
two hooded men. They followed her, held her and grabbed her purse. She
was
physically unharmed, but very upset and feels deeply violated. It was
very
traumatic for our daughters to see their mother as upset as she was.The police responded quickly and during the investigation said that
this
has been going on regularly in the neighborhood. It has happened
several
times in the last week and the M.O. is always the same. Two or three
men
with hoods pulled way over their faces or scarves covering them,
sometimes
with knives, after dark, looming in the shadows – especially on 8th Ave
or
PPW. They have chosen their location, they have decided on a method and
most
disturbingly they have picked their victim: women walking by themselves
after dark.I wondered if you could help inform the community about this to help
avoid
any more women being mugged and violated in this neighborhood so loved
for
it’s safety and civility. In print, on line and/or as e-mail, anything
and
everything that spreads the word in the community would be a help.
Get Fresh is sponsoring upcoming classes with nutritionists Laura Fischer-Harbage:
January 12, 1 – 2:30 pm Starting Solids: From When to What, and How to Make at Home. Everything you need to know for your new eater.
January 26, 1-2:30 pm: Fun with Finger Foods (And Other Adventures in Feeding Your Toddler)
February 23, 1-2:30 pm: Strategies for Your Picky Eater
Check the Get Fresh website for more classes.
As reported by WNYC radio, Barack Obama is the winner of the Iowa caucuses. John Edwards is in second place followed by Hillary Clinton.
Huckabee is the Republican winner. Mitt Rommney is the big loser of the night.
Baby dies after being mauled by family dog on Ocean Parkway in Kensington (NY Daily News)
This goes out to my Aunt Rhoda: White Plains, Urban Success Story? (New York Times)
Tools for success: Boys, ADD, and Disorganization (New York Times)
Total Silliness: Park Slope Hypocrisy (sic) Night (Icky in Brooklyn)
RIP: FDNY lieutenant killed in a high rise blaze (WNBC)
For those of us addicted to WNYC radio, we’ve been hearing a lot from Park Slope’s Andrea Bernstein, Political Director at WNYC, and one of the many public radio reporters covering the presidential campaign. This week, she was in Iowa reporting ont he caucuses.
Andrea Bernstein at Clinton headquarters had this to say about Clinton’s third place finish and Obama’s triumph. “A very tense night for Hillary. It looked likes Obama has been winning for the last few days…The Clinton campaign wanted an easy campaign. This is a real struggle for her. She has not been in a contested primary before. This is a new one for her. It will be interesting to watch how she handles herself in the days leading up to New Hampshire and Super Tuesday.”
From Bernstein, one can expect a very knowledgable, thorough, well-researched, well-observed approach to political journalism; she is one shrewd reporter. Bernstein is in charge of political and campaign coverage at WNYC. Since joining WNYC in 1998 Bernstein has covered national, local, and state politics.
Bernsteins’s on-air reporting just gets better and better. She has won numerous awards, including the 2003 Investigative Reporters and Editors prize for radio, the 2003 Heyward Broun Award, the 2003 Society for Professional Journalists award, for her series, with Amy Eddings, on New York’s “Handshake Hotels” for the Homeless.
In 2006-2007 Bernstein was one of 12 top U.S. journalists to win a Knight Fellowship at Stanford University. Now that she’s back on the east coast, she will be covering the presidential campaign for WNYC.
Just heard from the Greene Grape about their new shop on South Portland and Fulton set to open in mid-January. You can meet the manager of Provisions at the Green Grape tonight from 5-7 p.m.
Greene Meat, Greene Cheese, Greene Fish and
Greene Food – just some of the rejected names
for the new
food store we’re opening at the corner of
South Portland and Fulton (753 Fulton to be
exact). Instead, we went with "Provisions."
The idea is to provide you with
high-quality basics for home cooking and
entertaining. Prepare yourselves
for pastries and bread
from Balthazar, fresh fish from Wild Edibles,
chicken, beef and pork from upstate farms and
the best local, organic and natural foods we
can find.
In anticipation of the new
store opening in mid-January, we’d like to
introduce you to Matt Roberts who will be
running the show over there. He’ll be at the
Brooklyn wine store this weekend on
Friday, January 4 from 5-7pm and Saturday,
January 5 from 6-8pm. Come on by and let
him know what you’d like to see in the new
food store. If meeting Matt isn’t
incentive enough, check out the pouring
schedule this weekend featuring some wines
worth busting out your rewards voucher for .
. . these include three of your store
favorites of our
over-$25 wines.If you can’t make it into
the store but want to put in your 2 cents,
email us at productrequests@greenegrape.com.
According to a Special Task Force, that is. Councilman John C. Liu, chair of the city Transportation Committee, remains skeptical Here’s a press release from Agnes Kim, who works with Liu.
Dear Friends,
Here’s a news report about the status of our bridges. Council Member
John Liu has called for intensified efforts to inspect and upgrade
these critical transportation links. Take a look!Agnes Kim
Office of Council Member John C. LiuNEW YORK DAILY NEWS: "N.Y.’s cracked bridges called safe" – 12/27/2007
<http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007/12/27/2007-12-27_nys_cracked_bridges_called_safe-1.html>EXCERPT – Despite finding cracked beams, deteriorating concrete and
missing bolts on 20 of the state’s 49 deck truss bridges, a special
task force has deemed them all "safe" to traverse.Gov. Spitzer ordered the inspections of the state’s deck truss bridges
following the August collapse of the Interstate 35 bridge in
Minneapolis that killed 13 people. The state has more than 17,000
smaller bridges that were not included in the task force’s report.Eighteen bridges, including Brooklyn, Manhattan and the Kosciuszko
bridges received "yellow flags" for problems that could become
critical flaws if not addressed. The Brooklyn Bridge’s two yellow
flags were for decaying steel beams. Inspectors also found
deteriorating concrete under the bridge’s deck and a rip in the net
that catches debris.City Councilman John Liu, chair of the city Transportation Committee,
expressed confidence in the thoroughness of the inspections, but
stressed that constant vigilance is needed."There’s no reason to scream fire, but there’s no room for complacency
either," Liu, a Queens pol, said. "Every bridge is considered ‘safe’
until it falls and kills people."
Hepcat is under the weather so I brought home some chicken soup from Get Fresh to help him get well.
You know, chicken soup is as good as ten mothers or something like that.
I stop in at Get Fresh once a week on my way home from a weekly appointment in the South Slope. I always have a nice conversation with one of the owners (at least I think she’s one of the owners).
We’ve had two dinners from Get Fresh: short ribs and chicken pot pie. I particularly enjoyed the chicken pot pie. I am such a sucker for comfort food like chicken pot pie. Their mac ‘n cheese is also wickedly good, filled with cheese and oh so tasty.
Get Fresh’s chicken soup is a chicken soup any Jewish mother would love. Talk about fresh and homemade. This is totally natural, very homemade tasting chicken soup. My only comment is that it needs salt but that’s a compliment because most prepared foods have too much salt.
The soup has celery, carrots, potatoes and escarole in it and I felt like such a balabusta giving it to Hepcat. It really helped me fulfill my wifely/Jewish mother/balabusta duty without making it homemade.
Even Hepcat, who could barely talk, said the soup was good.
Two cups of soup: $8.95
GET FRESH
370 Fifth Avenue
Between 5th and 6th Streets
Phone: (718) 360-8469
Last night, our upstair’s neighbor asked us where we get our guitars fixed. For his benefit, here is a list of two places sort of nearby where he can take his guitar.
Mazzotti Music is the first and only female-operated full service music store in all of New York City!
Here’s their blurb: “Mazzotti Music deals in fairly-priced used and vintage gear, expert full service and on-site repairs, guitar and bass lessons for all experience levels from professional musicians, consignments, buying/trading, and an inviting no-hassle atmosphere!”
284 Third Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11215
718-715-1420
Jalopy provides repair service for banjo, basses, guitars, ukuleles, and whatever you bring in. From a quick set up to a fret job, they can fix any of your instrument troubles.
Jalopy
315 Columbia Street
Brooklyn, NY
According to Netflix, members in and around Brooklyn, New York are currently renting these titles much more than other Netflix members. Interesting. Check out this list to see what your neighbors are watching.
We are oh so sophisticated—Godard, Antonioni, Woody Allen. We are oh so urban—Crooklyn, The Panic in Needle Park, Brooklyn Lobster, Do The Right Thing. We are oh so interested in local cultures: A Life Apart: Hasidism in America.
What a great list this is, neighbors: There are three Godard films in the Top 25.
I wonder if they can do this by zip code, too.
A Life Apart: Hasidism in America
Tout Va Bien (Jean Luc Godard)
Crooklyn (Spike Lee)
The Panic in Needle Park
Downtown 81
Black Girl
Brooklyn Lobster
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three
The Five Obstructions
L’Avventura (Antonioni)
The Passenger (Antonioni)
Contempt (Godard)
The Brood
Stardust Memories
Kicking and Screaming (our man Noah Baumbach)
Do the Right Thing
The New York Times’ reports that Jon Scieszka, Park Slope’s beloved, wacky and subversive children’s book author, the man behind “The True Story of the Three Little Pigs”, "The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales,” and The Time Warp Trio series, will be named the first national ambassador for young people’s literature on Thursday.
The position is similar to the poet laureate but for children’s literature. There are no specific responsibilities specified for this position, for which Scieszka will be paid a $25,000 stipend. But he will be expected to travel and speak to children’s groups about the importance of reading.
Scieszka runs a web-based organization called, Guys Read, meant to encourage reading in boys who’d rather play video games. Scieszka is also a member of the board of 826NYC, the drop-in tutoring center on Fifth Avenue also known as Brooklyn Superhero Supply Store.
Congrats to Jon Scieszka!
Here’s the publisher’s blurb about Brooklyn Was Mine, a collection of nonfiction pieces by celebrated authors. The book is in stores NOW. Some proceeds go to Develop Don’t Destroy.
Of all the urban landscapes in America, perhaps none has so thoroughly infused and nurtured modern literature as Brooklyn. Though its literary history runs deep-Walt Whitman, Truman Capote, and Norman Mailer are just a few of its storied inhabitants-in recent years the borough has seen a growing concentration of bestselling novelists, memoirists, poets, and journalists. It has become what Greenwich Village once was for an earlier generation: a wellspring of inspiration and artistic expression.
Brooklyn Was Mine gives some of today’s best writers an opportunity to pay tribute to the borough they love in 20 original essays that draw on past and present to create a mosaic that brilliantly captures the quality and diversity of a unique, literary landscape.
Contributors include: Emily Barton, Susan Choi, Rachel Cline, Philip Dray, Jennifer Egan, Colin Harrison, Joanna Hershon, Jonathan Lethem, Dinaw Mengestu, Elizabeth Gaffney, Lara Vapnyar, Lawrence Osborne, Katie Roiphe, John Burnham Schwartz, Vijay Seshadri, Darcey Steinke, Darin Strauss, Alexandra Styron, Robert Sullivan, Michael Thomas
About the editors:
Chris Knutsen, a senior editor at Vogue who’s also worked at GQ, The New Yorker, and Riverhead Books, is the co-editor of Committed: Men Tell Their Stories of Love, Commitment, and Marriage.Valerie Steiker, author of The Leopard Hat, is a senior editor at Vogue and has worked at Artforum and The New Yorker
BROOKLYN WAS MINE
Edited by Chris Knutsen and Valerie Steiker
Riverhead Trade Paperback Original; January 2, 2008
978-1-59448-282-3; $15.00
Two Readings are coming up:
JANUARY 9, 7:30 PM
Park Slope Barnes and Noble (267 7th Avenue at 6th Street)
Authors:
Jennifer Egan
Susan Choi
Darin Strauss
JANUARY 15, 7:00 PM
BookCourt (163 Court Street near Pacific Street)
Authors:
Emily Barton
Darcey Steinke
Alexandra Styron
Bill Clinton in Brooklyn? Brooklyn, Iowa, that is. (Brooklyn Paper)
Aw shucks. New Year’s shout-outs from Self-Absorbed Boomer
More swimming in the icy ocean. Polar Bear slide show (Kinetic Carnival)
Sounds fun. Lola Staar to open roller rink in Coney (Gowanus Lounge)
Urbanosophy? Gettin’ all philosophical (Brooklyn Junction)
Very Generous: Proceeds from Brooklyn anthology to benefit Develop Don’t Destroy (No Land Grab)
A few weeks ago, I went to Jalopy. It’s hard to get to as it’s on Columbia Street way over near the entrance to the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel. So I took Eastern Car Service. I’d called the shop the day before o see if they had a 4-string banjo and of course they did.
I got there at noon, exactly when Lynette Wiley, who owns the shop with her husband Geoff, told me to. She was just opening up and about to walk her trio of dogs. They had to go but she told me they could wait, that she wanted to show me that 4-string banjo.
"My husband is sorry to see this one go," she said. It was a small, vintage 4-string banjo. I’d never seen a banjo so small. But that’s the way they are, 4-string banjos.
"It’s a gift for my son," I told her. "So I might have to bring it back. Is this returnable?"
She said sure and I decided what the hey it can’t hurt to buy this beautiful thing. I wondered where her husband was. He’s the instrument man, the one who fixes the instruments. He’s obviously passionate about vintage guitars, banjos, and ukuleles.
"He’s upstairs. We were out late last night," Lynette told me. "It was my husband’s birthday and we tried to keep him out all night."
The shop is in a 3-story building owned by the Wiley’s, who live upstairs. They bought it a few years ago when they moved here from Chicago. They built a theater in the back, which looks like an old vaudeville music hall with a red velvet curtain. Highly atmospheric in there. In the shop, too.
The NY Post article about Jalopy was posted on the expresso machine on the cafe side of the store. In the article, Geoff is quoted as saying:
"I was reading a book on Dada art, and how it had started out of
this one café, and it just started running around in my head that what
had slowed me down for most of my life trying to create art, theater
and music was not having anywhere to do it…So
I’m reading this book, and this whole thing just started around this
one little room. And I said, ‘What we need is a room.’"
Well, they’ve got a room alright. And quite a bit more. It’s got a real old-timey feel. The antique oak counter, the vintage instruments hanging on the wall. The dusty music books behind glass, a plastic case of picks. Cool very cool and atmospheric. Like something you’d find somewhere out west, in your dreams, in a galaxy far away called Red Hook.
The Wiley’s run a bunch of businesses in there now. They started by selling coffee to neighbors. Then they hosted a night of music. Now they’ve got the instrument shop and they offer music lessons in guitar, banjo, mandolin and ukulele. They have a license to sell beer and wine, too. There’s that wonderful looking theater with the tin ceiling, the brick walls, church pews and folding chairs scattered about where they present music and theater shows. Lynette told me about a theatrical collaboration between neighborhood kids and police that was scheduled that evening. They show movies in there, too. It’s a real cultural center at this point.
Just like they hoped it would be.
Lynette put the banjo in a bag. "It’s made out of some kind of recycled material," she said of the bag she gave me. I carried it home. It was a cold, windy Monday. The wind blew me down Columbia Street and I stopped in Margaret Palca for soup but the line was long so I wandered across the BQE to Naidre’s Cobble Hill outpost. Had some soup there and sat with my banjo on the seat across from me.
The woman sitting next to be enjoyed being seated next to a banjo. It was a special day my banjo and me…
To be continued.
Looking for something to do with the whole family? And if you’ve never been to the basement at Union Hall, you gotta come. Great music, a great space.
Saturday January 5th: Join Care Bears on Fire and The Mighty Handful* at Union Hall at 2 p.m. (an all ages matinee show).
Location:
Union Hall is located at 702 Union Street in Park Slope, Brooklyn. 718.638.4400
*The Mighty Handful is Henry Crawford’s new band. The name refers to a circle of composers who met in St. Petersburg, Russia, in the years 1856-1870: Mily Balakirev (the leader), César Cui, Modest Mussorgsky, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, and Alexander Borodin. This is not, however, the kind of music that the band will be playing.
Way to go Brooklyn! Brooklyn, Iowa mayor endorses Obama (Brooklyn Paper)
It’s about time! Air passengers bill of rights. (NY 1)
Help fight hunger. Give your time or money to a soup kitchen (NYCAH)
Memories. Whatta Year!(Brooklyn Paper)
So where is Sunset Park exactly? The blog knows (Sunset Park Blog)
What’s Ahead? Brooklyn Junction has 8 stories to watch (Brooklyn Junction)
That water is COLD. Great pix of Polar Bear’s New Year’s Day Swim (Brooklyn Based)
Take the Plunge! Brit in Brooklyn really nailed the shots! (Brit in Brooklyn)
He’s covering the Iowa caucuses for the Brooklyn Paper. So that’s why he was in such a rush to get my column. I for one am looking forward to interesting election coverage from our man Gersh.
Brooklyn Paper Editor Gersh Kuntzman is used to covering Brooklyn — but
now he’s heading 1,000 miles west to the so-called “other Brooklyn” to
cover the presidential caucuses from Brooklyn, Iowa, population 1,200.“As I’ve always said, ‘Nobody covers Brooklyn like The Brooklyn
Paper.’ Fortunately, I’ve never specified the state,” said Kuntzman,
who scored his first interBrooklyn exclusive when Mayor Loren Rickard,
a Republican, confessed that he would break with his party to support
Illinois Democratic Sen. Barack Obama at Thursday night’s big event.Kuntzman will be in the rural, eastern Iowa town all week, churning
out copy and daily video updates. Catch all the action at
BrooklynPaper.com.
READING: January 17th at 8 p.m. A reading of SIDE STREET, a new play by Rosemary Moore. It’s a really interesting play about a woman who discovers that her dead mother has been living in a studio apartment on the Upper East Side for 30 years. And she’s still the same age she was when she died. The mother and daughter, both 45, spend an interesting day together.
WORKSHOP: Saturday, January 12th from 10 am until 5 p.m. Regina McBride, author of The Nature of Water and Air and The Marriage Bed, leads one of her INNER LIVES, DEVELOPING CHARACTERS intensive workshops for writers at all levels. A great day of writing, a great way to get in touch with a character you want to write about. For more information email Regina at: nightsea21@nyc.rr.com
READING: January 31st at 8 p.m. WORD GIRLS. A reading by four poets published by Word Tech. Barbara Crooker, Erin Murphy, Kim Garcia, Meredith Davies Hadaway
For more information about both readings go to Brooklyn Reading Works
The Old Stone House
Fifth Avenue and 3rd Street in Park Slope. For information and directions go here.
Enough already! 73-year-old woman struck and killed by car in Sunset Park (NY1)
Good Catch: Hit-and-run driver charged in death of victim (NY 1)
Finally. Work to begin on Brooklyn Bridge Park in 2008 (NY1)
Encouraging News: NYC homicide rate down in 2007 (NY Times)
RIP: Ettore Sottsass, pioneer of Italian postmodern Memphis design dies at 90 (NY Times)
What a year! Wild Ride in Brooklyn (New York Daily News)
Ain’t that pretty! Video of Prospect Park New Year’s Even fireworks (Gowanus Lounge)
And I was there.
The Fun Run was, well, fun. At 11:15 p.m. more than 200 people ran the 3.3 mile Prospect Park loop. It was cold but I love running in cold weather if I am dressed properly (Kirsten at Slope Sports helped me figure out what to wear. The winter running gloves SS gave away to the first 100 registrants were also great).
What an amazing way to celebrate New Year’s Eve. Invigorating. Meditative. Energetic. Ecstatic. Running in the park at night is such a treat! The lake, the trees, the Oriental Pavilion, Wollman Rink, the playgrounds.
Everything looks so different at night (the secret park we don’t know).
Running on this cold, clear night, stars were visible and it felt like the best possible way to begin the new year. An omen of health, exercise, self-care, good living.
The fireworks were beautiful and what a festive and special evening in the park. We walked home down Third Street with the bustling fireworks crowd looking at the Christmas-lit windows of the limestones and brownstones.
Home. A hot bath. OSFO blowing on her Happy New Year horn. Finally quiet. Then sleep.
The Mulchfest in Prospect Park needs volunteers.
Saturday, January 5 & Sunday, January 6
10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
At this annual event, community members bring their holiday trees to
one of
two locations in the Park to be recycled into mulch. The trees are
passed
through a wood chipper, creating mulch which is used in the Park as
well as
distributed to the public free of charge.
Volunteers assist by:
* Assisting Park staff as they drive around collecting discarded
holiday trees
* Removing decorations from trees and wreaths
* Unloading trees from trucks in preparation for chipping
* Spreading mulch in designated locations in the Park
* Distributing free mulch to the public
* Staffing the information table
Mulchfest takes place at:
* Park Circle entrance at Parkside Avenue & Prospect Park
Southwest
(Accessible by F train to Fort Hamilton Parkway)
* Third Street entrance at Third Street & Prospect Park West
(Accessible by F train to 9th Street or 2, 3 train to Grand Army Plaza)
To volunteer or for more information
call (718) 965-8960 or email <mailto:volunteers@prospectpark.org>
volunteers@prospectpark.org.
Spend New Year’s Eve with Chicha Libre at Barbes at 10 p.m.
Chicha Libre plays a mixture of latin rhythms, surf music and psychedelic pop inspired by Peruvian music from the Amazon. The Brooklyn-based band mixes up covers of forgotten Chicha classics with French-tinged originals, re-interpretation of 70’s pop classics as well as cumbia versions of pieces by Satie and Ravel.
With Greg Burrows – percussion; Joshua Camp – Hohner Electravox; Olivier Conan – Cuatro & Vocals – Nicholas Cudahy – bass; Vincent Douglas – Guitar – Timothy Quigley – percussion.
Is having an affair good or bad for a marriage? Our pal Pete shares his thoughts on his blog, Full Permission Living. The piece by Jenny Block is also quite interesting.
A few weeks ago, I offered my comments (read them at: http://fullpermissionliving.blogspot.com/) on whether or not having an affair was potentially "good" for a marriage.
I was responding to an article that was in the NY Times on the subject called, "An Odd Turn of Affairs." (http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/body_and_soul/article2882883.ece)
On the Huffington Post blog this week there was another article on the same subject, taken from Tango Magazine, entitled: "Portrait of an Open Marriage," by Jenny Block. (http://www.tangomag.com/2006130/portrait-of-an-open-marriage-2.html/1).
The piece has this caption under the title: "Jenny Block reveals an unconventional marriage arrangement that worked."
So, I took a look, because I believe that openness is the key to a good marriage, along with the two partners being fully in love with each other, of course.
On my blog (http://fullpermissionliving.blogspot.com) are some samples of what I found in Jenny’s piece, interspersed with my interjections and conclusions. Check it out and offer your own comments.
Here this week’s Smartmom from the Brooklyn Paper:
It was like Rockefeller Center in Smartmom’s apartment last week.
The Oh So Feisty One kept bringing her friends in and out of the living room to see the tree.
She and her friends just sat on the
green leather couch and stared as if intoxicated by the white lights
and the glittery gold ornaments.
Even Teen Spirit said it was a
nice tree. So did Hepcat. Grudgingly. He was still mourning the fact
that they spent Christmas in Brooklyn for the third year in a row
rather than in California. But he came around.
Here’s how they
got such a great tree: Two Saturdays ago, when it started to snow,
Smartmom, OSFO and Hepcat went out in search of a tree. What a perfect
time to shop. It was 10 pm in the wet, slushy snow.
The
three of them (and Teen Spirit in spirit) sloshed down Seventh Avenue
to browse trees first at the Apple Tree then at the Key Food. They even
went to the Food Co-op to see if those “organic” trees were still
there, but no go.
Back at the Apple Tree on Garfield, OSFO fell
in love with a short, squat tree at and they made a split-second
decision to buy it.
Forty-five dollars later, they were lugging
the tree back to Third Street. Smartmom hoped they wouldn’t run into
any of their Jewish friends — she’d have some explaining to do.
“It’s
our inter-faith Christmas tree, we’ll decorate it with Jewish stars,”
she would have said. But truthfully, Smartmom felt no shame about
having a tree because as an inter-faith family Christmas and Hanukah
are both meaningful.
And since deciding to do Christmas in
Brooklyn, it felt perfectly right to have a tree. Besides, it gave them
somewhere to put the presents.
Once home, they decided to put the
tree in the living room and just admire and inhale its luscious aroma.
They didn’t even decorate it.
Actually Hepcat found it so fragrant, he had to open the window because it was making him cough.
But
it didn’t make Smartmom cough. t made her think of moonlight in
Vermont and the Christmas scene in “Fanny and Alexander” and the Bing
Crosby movies “White Christmas” and “Holiday Inn.”
It made her
think of Christmas on the farm in Northern California where Artsy
Grandma decorates a live tree with timeless ornaments — some homemade,
some vintage glass ones from the 1950s and ’60s.
Smartmom’s
living room seemed so much smaller with the tree in it. She had to
disassemble the Noguchi coffee table and rearrange the furniture. The
tree took over.
Diaper Diva and Ducky came over to help decorate
it. Diaper Diva is a pro at decorating. And so is 3-year-old Ducky, who
delighted in selecting ornaments and finding a spot for them on the
tree. Hepcat strung the lights. OSFO put candy canes everywhere.
When they were done, they all just looked at the tree and sighed. It really was gorgeous.
Smartmom
liked to stare at it as she sat on the green couch in a state of
reverie that really had very little to do with the birth of Jesus and
more to do with how damn pretty that tree looked in her living room.
Truthfully,
it surprised her how much she loved that tree. In the past, her trees
were a cut above Charlie Brown’s. She was sure that Hepcat was
disappointed. But this year’s tree was wonderful — maybe because
Smartmom was finally comfortable with the decision to spend Christmas
in Brooklyn and make their own traditions here.
It looked perfect in their living room because it was theirs.