Miracle on 34th Street - in November



Great storefront windows at Macys, including a few that had animated short stories playing.


Determined to see the Macys Thanksgiving Parade the night before, I met up with my sister and kids and took the train into the city. However, we realized because of timing and # of children (6), it was probably just best to go into Penn Station and see the Macys windows, a little of Times Square, and meet up with our brother Scot who lives in Manhattan.

As always, there is a bit of a "wow, we are in New York" feeling and also a bit of "eh, what is the big deal" as you walk around rubbernecking with all the other people.

The coolest thing about New York, in my opinion, is that it doesn't matter what you look like, how you are dressed and where you are from - you see all kinds and so you automatically fit into the masses of variegated people walking along.



Me and  my oldest niece - there is a bit of family resemblance, aye?

 Next time, I am going to go to the other end of the city on Thanksgiving Eve to see the balloons and parade prep the night before - slightly smaller crowds and easier to go from stop to stop on the subway and trains.


Inside the famed Macys store. We heard stories about it from my mom's parents who worked in NYC in the department stores during the Great Depression. That is an entire blog in and of itself.




My brother Scot holding my little niece - the one recovering from getting burned this summer. She LOVES Uncle Scot, but Aunt Rebecker - not so much. Hey, we win some, we lose some.



Going Postal at the Post Office

The holidays have officially arrived when everyone starts acting out like Far Side characters at the post office. Good-ness!

I walk in and stand in the obvious line. Of course, there is a little lady over at the side booth helping someone with special envelopes and such, but I don't go there. If no one else is going there it typically means they are pulling us all from the main line when our turn comes.

Is this obvious to anyone but me? No, it is not obvious.

Mrs. Postal Worker had to yell it to every new patron that started walking that direction. Most didn't hesitate and migrated over to the other line. Others decided to make a scene. One older gentleman barked back "We can't even get the Christmas spirit at the post office?" Of course, "Christmas spirit" by his definition meant that only he would receive special treatment. He could be seen a few minutes later getting in his car without getting any service.

A nice even older man (looked about 95 years old) came in a few minutes later. He was basically clueless as to what the lady was saying and kept walking closer to her as she got louder. Our entire line motioned to take care of him first. So, we heard her yelling at him every step of the way until his purchase was completed...which took forever because she ran out of bills and had to yell to him that he had to wait to get his three dollars.

Another woman had apparently come to get all kinds of old mail from a post office mailbox and then proceeded to stuff it all into three boxes and address them all at the service counter. All of this while we waited. I love process and logistical smartness and this kind of stuff drives me insane, but today I was just taking it all in feeling like this would be a good version of the postal system "The Office" sitcom.

I ended up with the lady at the side booth and she proceeded to spout off everything that had preceeded when I asked if it had been "An interesting day?"

It is amazing how the wonderful giving is often accompanied by stress, anxiety, and rush. Hopefully that won't overtake most of us this year and we can just slowly go about getting gifts and/or notes out to those we love and enjoy the response.

Happy Shipping!

Happy Fourth of July!

Today is Independence Day!

I am grateful for this country and the opportunity to live, work, worship, think and speak in ways that fit my beliefs.