Seen on Broadway: Gluten-Free Trees. Coming Soon: No-carb Latkes!
By Caitlin Hawke
Remember: December is "Spread the Blove" month. If you enjoy these blog posts, won't you share this with a nearby friend, family member or neighbor? It's a great way to stay in touch between newsletters of the W. 102nd & 103rd Streets Block Association. So tip off a neighbor who can then receive local news directly to his or her email by just filling in an email address at the bottom of each post.
Love the Blog? Spread the Blove!
Remember: December is "Spread the Blove" month. If you enjoy these blog posts, won't you share this with a nearby friend, family member or neighbor? It's a great way to stay in touch between newsletters of the W. 102nd & 103rd Streets Block Association. So tip off a neighbor who can then receive local news directly to his or her email by just filling in an email address at the bottom of each post.
Love the Blog? Spread the Blove!
Cheeky tannenbaum hawkers on Broadway will do anything to seal the deal.
I should explain that I gave up holiday decorations long ago after being traumatized by my first NYC roommate. I rented a room from a woman who couldn't let go of the trimmings well into March. It freaked me out a little. But then I moved and was liberated by the thought that I could take the holidays on my own terms. I know some folks feel quite strongly about these year-end festivities. So forgive me for saying that my ideal is to revamp everything and celebrate them like the quadrennial summer and winter Olympics: Thanksgiving once every four years, and your choice of December holiday once every four years. With two years off in between for reflection and absence aplenty to make the heart grow fonder.
But one event I refuse to leave unobserved is the winter solstice. I'll even celebrate a solstice twice a year. Unapologetically. (Some people in my family celebrate them four times a year, but that's another story.)
The solstices are the most enduring and common observances in the whole wide family of Homo sapiens sapiens.
In stark contrast to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade which has devolved into an unwatchable infomercial saturated with product placement, the actual solstice remains untainted by consumerism. That, in my book, is something to sing about!
So this December 21st, on the heels of that traffic-stopping eclipse which reminded us of our puny place on the third rock from the sun, come into the streets and sing. Come mittened. Come gloved. Come sing with your neighbors, known and unknown. Sing on your streets! Sing under windows and on stoops. Stand in the doorways and block up the halls. Sing out loud. Sing out strong. Sing off-key. Sing joyous or blue. Sing 2017 out.
And sing back all the light we cannot see.
But one event I refuse to leave unobserved is the winter solstice. I'll even celebrate a solstice twice a year. Unapologetically. (Some people in my family celebrate them four times a year, but that's another story.)
The solstices are the most enduring and common observances in the whole wide family of Homo sapiens sapiens.
In stark contrast to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade which has devolved into an unwatchable infomercial saturated with product placement, the actual solstice remains untainted by consumerism. That, in my book, is something to sing about!
So this December 21st, on the heels of that traffic-stopping eclipse which reminded us of our puny place on the third rock from the sun, come into the streets and sing. Come mittened. Come gloved. Come sing with your neighbors, known and unknown. Sing on your streets! Sing under windows and on stoops. Stand in the doorways and block up the halls. Sing out loud. Sing out strong. Sing off-key. Sing joyous or blue. Sing 2017 out.
And sing back all the light we cannot see.
Save the date and see you out there!
Thursday, December 21st at 7pm at 865 West End Avenue (W. 102nd Street).
To download a songsheet, click here.
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