For the 2nd time in our four Novembers in New Paltz, we had Thanksgiving up at our house. Two years ago, we had a less-coordinated effort that still came off pretty well but was nowhere near as much fun as this go-round. It helped that we added "Beatles Rock Band" to the festivities, in keeping with the early settlers and their native American benefactors who, as we all learned in social studies class, played with beetles and rocks and wore (head)bands. Maybe not, but still, I strongly recommend Rock Band for all family situations, funerals included.
Before and after the music, there was a meal. 14 people filled our smallish dining room, requiring us to tilt the table 45 degrees (that is to say, it was diagonal) and to add side tables on either end, trapping window-side guests. Shirra cooked nearly everything we ate for the dinner -- and all of it was delicious -- tho all of the groups of guests contributed comestibles. My brother and his wife favored us with some amazing items from Trader Joe's, and my mom made two tasty sweet potato pies; Shirra's brother and his wife toted along some string beans for the meal as well as some crudite and dips. I ate more in that afternoon than in any three other days of the year.
THE BALLOONS. THOSE FRIGGIN' BALLOONS
And once again, we avoided NYC. Thanks to the circus that the balloon-inflation has turned into, there are sidewalk closures, late-night noise, and a few other hassles that easily outweigh the mild thrill of seeing the huge balloons being blown up just outside my old block. When I was a kid, it was bad enough that John and I would hear marching bands warming up at 6am outside our window (14 floors below), but in recent years, people have come out in droves much as they do for the lighting of the huge Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center. The difference is that at least with the tree, what little thrill there is, it's quickly over -- basically as soon as the tree is lit up for the first time. But with the balloons, people mill past all day as if they're excited about watching helium slowly fill up a large piece of fabric. In fact, seeing Dora the Explorer with only her head and limbs inflated might be quite distressing to a little kid and is certainly pretty boring to anyone else.
I guess that people think it's cool to see the balloons in their pre-parade state as if they're catching a dress rehearsal of a big musical, but as I know from personal experience, there is quite a difference between seeing Sweeny Todd before opening night and glimpsing a flaccid Pillsbury Doughboy.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Monday, November 02, 2009
Halloween: NYC vs NP
This past weekend was Halloween, and for our third year, we joined in the Halloween parade down Main Street. This year, Maeve was dressed as a Devil Fairy; Emmett went as Percy Jackson, and Fiona was a Shadow Hunter from the Mortal Instruments series. For the 2nd year, I dressed as a headless giant holding his own head. The weather mostly cooperated, tho there were a few moments of drizzle.
About 5,000 people were in attendance as usual; people come from other towns just to strut their stuff down the strip and to marvel at the ingenuity of others. I particularly enjoyed seeing the people who went as home-made Tetris pieces and the man who dressed as Super Mario.
Luxury apartment buildings have their perks, but there are unexpected down sides. My mother's building, for example, was a great place to celebrate Halloween when my brother and I were kids. Back then, there were many children in the building, and it could take ages to get to all of the apartments even after the building instituted the sign-up sheets in the elevators. The sheets meant that trick-or-treaters could quickly decide which floors to hit and in what order, but there was still the delay caused by the glut of costumed kids patrolling for candy. But as apartment prices began escalating, the building underwent a change in its occupants. Once it was a place for young upper middle class families, but as the prices for apartments shot past a million dollars back in the '90s, the new buyers needed more money than a typical young doctor, lawyer, or pair of teachers could afford. Many of the dwellers stayed in their apartments, as my mother has done, and those who moved out were replaced by ultra-wealthy folks whose children, for the most part, were already teenagers or had already grown up. When I was young, the A/B elevator used to have at least a dozen kids living in 5 or 6 apartments. The sign-up sheet usually boasted at least as many apartments giving away candy. These days, of the 29 apartments in that line, there is currently only one apartment housing any children; it happens to have three, tho one or two of them might be too old for dressing up and seeking candy. In a few years, the kids in this apartment will grow up, and unless some new kids move in on that side of the building, there will be no children on the A/B line. The sign-up sheet this year was all but blank -- only two apartments were taking trick-or-treaters. I guess there was little harm in that: the entire building doesn't have enough school-age inhabitants to fill a small school bus.
Halloween is yet another reason to move to New Paltz. And don't even get me started on how the Macy*s Day parade has ruined Thanksgiving for me. That's a story for another blog.
About 5,000 people were in attendance as usual; people come from other towns just to strut their stuff down the strip and to marvel at the ingenuity of others. I particularly enjoyed seeing the people who went as home-made Tetris pieces and the man who dressed as Super Mario.
Luxury apartment buildings have their perks, but there are unexpected down sides. My mother's building, for example, was a great place to celebrate Halloween when my brother and I were kids. Back then, there were many children in the building, and it could take ages to get to all of the apartments even after the building instituted the sign-up sheets in the elevators. The sheets meant that trick-or-treaters could quickly decide which floors to hit and in what order, but there was still the delay caused by the glut of costumed kids patrolling for candy. But as apartment prices began escalating, the building underwent a change in its occupants. Once it was a place for young upper middle class families, but as the prices for apartments shot past a million dollars back in the '90s, the new buyers needed more money than a typical young doctor, lawyer, or pair of teachers could afford. Many of the dwellers stayed in their apartments, as my mother has done, and those who moved out were replaced by ultra-wealthy folks whose children, for the most part, were already teenagers or had already grown up. When I was young, the A/B elevator used to have at least a dozen kids living in 5 or 6 apartments. The sign-up sheet usually boasted at least as many apartments giving away candy. These days, of the 29 apartments in that line, there is currently only one apartment housing any children; it happens to have three, tho one or two of them might be too old for dressing up and seeking candy. In a few years, the kids in this apartment will grow up, and unless some new kids move in on that side of the building, there will be no children on the A/B line. The sign-up sheet this year was all but blank -- only two apartments were taking trick-or-treaters. I guess there was little harm in that: the entire building doesn't have enough school-age inhabitants to fill a small school bus.
Halloween is yet another reason to move to New Paltz. And don't even get me started on how the Macy*s Day parade has ruined Thanksgiving for me. That's a story for another blog.
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