Looking Both Ways

When I woke up this morning to make coffee, I did a double take when I looked out the window. Where's the Statue of Liberty and the boats? Where's Manhattan? Snow is coming down again, swirling and dancing outside my window, but beyond the construction site below I only see white.

In his marketing blog this morning, Seth Godin referenced a post he wrote 10 years ago about the end of the 90's. The paragraph I liked best is when he turned his focus from looking back to looking ahead:

The thing is, we still live in a world that's filled with opportunity. In fact, we have more than an opportunity -- we have an obligation. An obligation to spend our time doing great things. To find ideas that matter and to share them. To push ourselves and the people around us to demonstrate gratitude, insight, and inspiration. To take risks and to make the world better by being amazing.

And some words spoken over a hundred years ago by Henry Ward Beecher, a famous clergyman at the Plymouth Church here in Brooklyn Heights.

Every man should be born again on the first day of January. Start with a fresh page. Take up one hole more in the buckle if necessary, or let down one, according to circumstances; but on the first of January let every man gird himself once more, with his face to the front, and take no interest in things that were and are past.

Dreams planted in your heart are there for a reason. Like the white space outside my window this morning, not seeing anything, but absolutely knowing that it's there, is what faith is all about. On the morning before a new year, am wishing everyone courage to follow whatever it is that's planted deep inside, and hope that the coming year brings much joy.

I Got Love For You

Santa brought a new computer to my nieces so Aunt Stacy set them up on gmail accounts and Skype and we've all been getting some nice email love from them.

Ellie's tend to be short though to the point: "Hi Laura, I love you, Ellie." Connor has emailed to coordinate a sleepover back in Brooklyn and asked what sport I want to focus on first for my sports stats clinic with him. (He's a Jets fan - and very excited about Saturday's win - suggested football). Katy informed me last night I need to download Skype today so we can all talk and see one another when we're not together, as they did on Sunday with their cousins who had left for Utah.

I was thinking about how at work we have agency wide meetings to discuss reducing the volume of email that comes in and proper email etiquette, and how we all secretly don't love the mass email forwards, jokes and chain letters. Different reality when you're 7 or 9 years old... Some of my favorite emails I've saved have come from them, or my father and my Aunt Ruth (both blog subscribers too). And what a 'problem' to have when people are taking the time to stay in touch with you, to make the miles between you feel like much less.

I'm flying out today, and am sad to leave everyone, though had created this video for my nieces and their cousins for Christmas. Ellie has played it several times already, volume turned up high. I suspect I'll be doing the same when I'm away too.

Boxing Day

So...I guess I didn't move to New York for the weather. In addition to being with my family over the holidays, its been wonderful to be in a much warmer climate. Katy's handmade gift will help bring some some sunshine to my first winter in the Northeast in six years.

Though temperatures dipped a bit to mid-low 60's yesterday, we met up in the afternoon for some beach time at Peck's Lake in Hobe Sound. A beach football and soccer doubleheader helped keep us warm.

Not sure how Travis and Jason always end up on the same team...

Then a chilly but very beautiful cruise home.

Yes, Katy, there is a Santa Claus

Christmas Eve in South Florida and things are getting festive. My brother in law strings lights on the sail mast every year which is in their 'backyard' - the intracoastal waterway - and you see it over the house when you pull in the driveway. Family and also friends of my sister and brother in law' came over last night for dinner and cocktails. Tiger Woods discussions were aplenty (his boat Privacy is about 15 minutes north of us though apparently he's camping out in the Bahamas), and the kids ran around -very excited for Christmas.

I whispered to my sister yesterday, asking about Katy (my 9 1/2 year old niece) and Santa Claus. Kris wasn't sure but said she thinks she believes. I hope she does. Last year Katy wrote the most thoughtful letter to Santa that her teacher mentioned to my sister. All the other kids in her class wrote letters asking for a long list of toys and games for themselves. Katy asked Santa was holding up - 'you must be so busy', inquired about Mrs. Claus, and asked for what she knew other people really wanted the most. She's a very sweet little girl.

Just in case we get asked out of nowhere, I found this editorial which ran in the New York Sun in 1897. Enjoy everyone.

"We take pleasure in answering at once and thus prominently the communication below, expressing at the same time our great gratification that its faithful author is numbered among the friends of The Sun: "I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says. "If you see it in The Sun it's so, please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?"

Virginia Hanlon

115 West 95th Street

"Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except what they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, they are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, with the boundless world around him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

"Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy, Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias.

"There would no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished. 'Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies!'

"You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see.

"Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders that are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen worlds which not the strongest man, not even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived could tear apart.

"Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supreme beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

"No Santa Claus! Thank God he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood."

Snow Day

Sometimes what you want gets a bit delayed.

When I was at Laguardia mid day on Saturday, no snow in sight at the time, I was definitely disappointed to learn of my flight being cancelled. There's a certain 'leave the house' momentum that happens when you're planning to be away for 11 days so it was strange to return home with a packed bag and realize you're going to be here for a few more days than planned. My sister and Jason called or texted me probably twenty times that day, and Jason (where there's a will there's a way) had his hardcore Russian travel agent call me, and had also suggested Amtrak (!). I mentioned it jokingly to my sister and she said, "Well, I think you should look into it." (Seats for that 29 hour journey are sold out until Thursday). My sister asked me yesterday if the city seemed empty. It doesn't but on Saturday it did feel like I was in an empty dorm room at college when everyone had left for holidays.

Yesterday I embraced a better attitude about everything and decided to just have some fun in the snow with friends who are here. These pictures are for my niece Katy who said she wanted to see some snow for Christmas, and for some expat New Yorkers who have called and remembering how pretty, cozy - and strangely quiet - the city is when its blanketed with a carpet of snow.

This was Grace Court yesterday morning.

View from the roof overlooking Joralamen Street and all things south (I think Cobble Hill). In the new year I'm planning to really figure out where things are. Brooklyn is confusing because its not laid out as nicely as Manhattan or the California coast i.e. driving north to LA, ocean is on your left (west); or heading uptown to Upper East Side (north) or downtown (south) to Tribeca. When I look out my window I think I am facing north, but its actually west....

Some sledding spotted on Remsen Street.
Central Park - I think its the most beautiful place in New York. Somehow barren elm trees look festive when adorned with a winter wonderland all about.

ps My family informed me yesterday that if for some reason the Tuesday flight doesn't work then I need to drive!

Grounded

A winter snow storm in New York is usually very pretty and fun. Unless you're supposed to be on a flight to see your family in Florida. Right now the earliest flight I'm rebooked on is Tuesday afternoon...

I wish I was with everyone tonight but it seems I am getting a bit of a White Christmas before that.

Pink Dolphins

Earlier this week over red wine and tapas at Boqueria, I enjoyed dinner with Chris Kilham, "The Medicine Hunter", a friend of mine who was in town for a media appearance on Fox. Chris is a real life medicinal plant hunter, and frequently travels to places like Russia, China, Mongolia and the Amazon Rainforest to meet with native communities and source medicinal plants.

Chris has recently appeared on the Dr. Oz show and has become a media regular on Fox News discussing natural remedies of powerful plants. During dinner Chris advised me on a couple ingredients to boost my smoothies that 'will make you feel great'...which I enthusiastically purchased the next day at Whole Foods...and then laughed when I learned their other benefits....

I first met Chris three years ago through the founders of Sambazon, and he was part of a small group that traveled with us to the factory opening in Macapa, Amapa. As our trip included founders, family and investors, it was probably much tamer than what happens on some of the excursions on the medicine trail that Chris goes on. "Bad toilet facilities, limited shelter, weird food, poisonous animals and natives doing rituals with hallucinogenic plants." And Chris' perspective on deforestation in a jungle that houses one in ten of all living species on Earth was sobering "...It was the rainy season there but there was no rain. No trees, no rain..."

After sharing a bit of my adventures in the wilds of Manhattan and Brooklyn, he told me about his recent trip to the Peruvian Amazon where he saw pink dolphins. On a chilly mid December evening in New York City, pink dolphins are something that can really fuel your imagination...

Chris is headed back down to the Amazon this winter with a group of lucky college students who are getting school credit. My next 'exotic adventure' will likely be Lion Country Safari in South Florida, with everyone packed into a three seater SUV. Though I'm living in a different jungle of sorts now, pink dolphins reminded me of what it felt like to be there...in that amazing place.

Snow Bird

Top of the list of the past decade was a small tribe entering the world - my nieces Katy and Ellie, and their cousins Connor, Carly and Logan.

On Saturday I'm flying south to spend Christmas with everyone in Florida. Among Christmas festivities the week will likely include some boating and beach time, visiting Santa at the mall, watching some Christmas classics like "Christmas Vacation" and "Trading Places' with my brother in law, possibly a tennis clinic with Grandpa Roy and I hope at least a couple visits to my favorite restaurant Little Moirs Food Shack - best fish ever.

I'm so looking forward to seeing everyone.

28 degrees

This was the temperature last night. I've been trying to think of the advantages of dipping temps, and winter. Soup. Flannel. Smells of sage, pine, cinnamon, cocoa. Winter sun. Catching up on multiple "Mad Men" episodes in a row. And I'm sure there's some sort of 'resistance exercise' that counts when you are walking the streets of New York in a big puffy coat and boots, with a heavy computer and yoga bag, sherpa style.

Stacy and Connor just came over to use my oven to bake cupcakes for Logan's big 3 year old birthday party this afternoon. I made smoothies and Stacy and I caught up on our weeks. Connor enjoyed some peaceful alone time outside of the construction zone, and a little sibling bouncing off the walls in anticipation for his party.

Chilly air outside also makes it nice to curl up and read a good Encyclopedia Brown.

Holiday gatherings

I was on the phone with my colleague Adam in Santa Monica earlier this week when I had to relocate myself because someone wanted to string lights and hang snowflakes above my desk. "We've truly turned into Dunder Mifflin", I whispered to him.

There's been several news reports about companies canceling holiday parties this year, though I am glad my company didn't. Like many others, we had a tough year and went thru layoffs, salary freezes and furloughs (this was around the time I also decided I was moving back to New York, when both my father, brother in law and Jason were asking how the company was doing.). As it was more of a belt-tightening year, we transformed the third floor of our office into a party space earlier this week followed by an office potluck/family meal the next day. While I wasn't part of the crew that stayed until 2 a.m. and then went out to an after party bar until 4 a.m, I think end of the year holiday parties are fun, and so important. It's good to gather.

I'm a social person so have enjoyed going to several since Thanksgiving - in homes, bars and restaurants, even one in the reception hall of a church. Last night I went to one in a home I don't think I've been in for over seven years. Most of the people in the room were in the publishing industry, and they acknowledged a tough year, and called it the "Decade from Hell", referencing a TIME magazine story from last week. Though the host raised a glass to the future, "This is about hope," he said.

In the beginning of this decade, my mother unexpectedly died, our nation went thru September 11th, I decided I wanted to move far away to golden California. I certainly never expected to be back in New York at the bookend of this decade, but there's something about everyone gathering together, even when I was 3,000 miles away, I always felt connected to New York. The year, and the decade, also brought its share of many blessings and joy - new lives, new relationships, and the promise of what's around the corner that we just can't see yet. Not sure where the next decade will lead but am very glad to be here now.

First Flakes

My friend Lauren, who recently relocated from the Bay Area to Chicago with her fiance, sent around a picture of 'first snow' in Chicago yesterday. Lauren taught me the finely honed "Sausalito Diet" (sushi, wine, dark chocolate) and the need for wearing a puffy coat on occasion during chilly evenings in San Francisco. I think both Lauren and I are going to get a bit of a wake up call as California transplants facing real winters for the first time in a few years...

In New York we had 'first flakes' last weekend, that turned into a light rain. I know I am chalking this up to the fun of being in a new environment, but ever since I saw the flakes, I've been thinking of sipping "Winter Frauleins" in cozy pubs, shoe shoeing through the woods, playing in the snow.

And let there be light, part 2

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I always love lights in trees and wish it was possible year around.

A friend of mine said that he thought I should spend some time in Manhattan so I joined him (and several hundred others) for the 65th annual Park Avenue Christmas tree lighting and carol sign in front of Brick Presbyterian Chruch, on the Upper East Side.

I later learned that these trees were first lit in 1945, not as a New York City Christmas tradition, but in remembrance of soldiers killed in World War II. The trees in the Park Avenue median, now stretch over 50 blocks north from the Met Life Building up to 96th street. “To see Park Avenue filled with people singing makes this big city feel like a small town,” said music director Keith Toth in a write up in Time Out New York.

While we waited for the lighting, the Brick Church pipe organ played, carols were sung by the children's choir and many of us, periodically checking our song sheets for some forgotten verses. Park Avenue residents peered out from street facing windows and little kids were perched on parents' shoulders and some in the branches of trees, waiting. And we all looked south.

While I still wish trees could be lit year round, expectation and anticipation are part of what makes something special. "It is the time you've wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important," writes Antoine de Saint Exupery, in "The Little Prince". Anything worth having typically comes with some delay.

We waited in the dark evening, shivering a bit, when finally, a solo bugler played taps. For the sixty fifth time, with the exception of 2001 when the Mayor Giuliani uttered the words, also honoring those lost in the World Trade Center on September 11th, the pastor of the Brick Church said "And let there be light". And suddenly the golden trees lit up the avenue and night sky, and helped usher in a new season.