Holiday Lighting

This year the holiday lighting ceremony on Skillman Avenue got a major boost with a street closure and a proper venue in front of the Reformed Church at 48th Street. In years past, the event was a sort of awkward crowd standing outside Aubergine taking up space in the street. I always felt like we were just a few minutes away from a kid dashing out into cross street traffic while we stood and sipped our cocoa. So to see it grow to a real crowd with a platform and choir kids from PS 150 performing carols and such was a nice change. Councilman Van Bramer has worked to get the lights revamped as well which made the whole thing so much brighter and merrier. Ty Sullivan MC'ed and there was a performance from Choi's string school. We huddled in the cool temps for almost 45 minutes waiting for the tree to light up. And when it was finally time to see it glow, there was of course a glitch. But it made us all laugh and in seconds it was fixed. Sunnyside seems more like Bedford Falls on nights like these. Another reason we stay right where we are and deal with the occasional indignities of city living. There were so many familiar faces out and about and I was glad I brought my camera out to capture a few special moments. 

There was a small hiccup as the ceremony wound down and we waited for Santa's imminent arrival. I was trying to get the girls out of there but to no avail. They wanted to see what the fuss was about and Elisa remembered Santa throwing candy in other years.  I wasn't so sure about that this time around and wanted to avoid the massive crush of little bodies when they threw themselves toward the jolly old man (still having PTSD to the year I lost a 2 year old Elisa in the crowd). And besides, we'd made plans to have Andy and Mindy over afterwards so the kids could run amok at home while we ate Thai food. Since Nacho was off the next day, I enjoyed this kind of relaxed evening with friends all the more. December is shaping up to be a busy month and kicking it off with a little holiday cheer and friendship was just the thing I needed.