Clinton, New Jersey
On the way to and from Arizona, I stopped in New York and New Jersey to do a bit of Christmas shopping and to revel in the festive delights of the Christmas season in that part of the world. Despite the crowds and the commercialism, it is still one of my favorite times of year in "The Big Apple." I love the jingle of the bells that the Salvation Army volunteers ring on every street corner, the bling and glitz of the shop windows on 5th Avenue and in Herald Square, the skaters in Central Park and especially the big tree at Rockefeller Center and the graceful angels that herald it. The dusting of snow that fell on my nose and eyelashes on my last night there had me singing carols with gusto as we walked through the streets.
This year however, all of that was eclipsed by a once in a lifetime opportunity. Every year in the quaint little town of Clinton, New Jersey, where my brother's family resides, there is a Christmas parade. Their church is represented by a vintage firetruck owned by a certain Mr. Hooper and I was fortunate to be invited to ride on it in the parade. The town is small, so the journey was blessedly short as it was pouring with freezing rain, but what an experience! Much to the children's delight onboard, the truck was driven by none other than Batman (not sure why, but then again, why not?) and we were given jingle bells to shake. At the end we were frozen and wet and our voices were hoarse from shouting 'Merry Christmas' to waving pedestrians, but I relished every moment! Thank you Mr. Hooper!
I'm the one in the red hat towards the back of the truck.
That 'dusting of snow' in New York City I mentioned earlier turned into freezing rain by the time I left the city the next morning to catch my flight back to St. Martin, so I was, in fact, quite happy to leave and get back to the tropics. Taka Trois was still ‘on the hard’ having her annual bottom scraping when I arrived , but she’s now back in the water and we’ve been busy scrubbing the rest of her, inside and out and putting her back together after her enforced 'rest' during hurricane season. It's like doing a giant puzzle--maddening, but very satisfying when complete, just in time to welcome ten members of our family who will be joining us here for Christmas week.
Truly blessed are the words that keep coming to mind as I write this final entry in my blog for 2013. Faith, family and friends are the things I am always most thankful for, but this year, I would add an extra thanks to God for the incredible adventures we have had during the past 12 months, beginning with crossing the Atlantic (no, I can't say it enough!) and for keeping us safe throughout. I must also say how grateful I am to you, dear readers of this blog. Thank you for your encouragement and for sticking with me this past year.
Truly blessed are the words that keep coming to mind as I write this final entry in my blog for 2013. Faith, family and friends are the things I am always most thankful for, but this year, I would add an extra thanks to God for the incredible adventures we have had during the past 12 months, beginning with crossing the Atlantic (no, I can't say it enough!) and for keeping us safe throughout. I must also say how grateful I am to you, dear readers of this blog. Thank you for your encouragement and for sticking with me this past year.
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