Scattered Thoughts . . .

While we were in Manhattan last week, among the  many sights we saw, we stopped at Bryant Park behind the New York Public Library. Not only does Bryant Park put up a large ice rink for Christmas but they also have very many little shops. It really is a well-designed little park with many events throughout the year.  This time of year, however, it is decorated for Christmas with a little Christmas Village. The rink is quite nice, however, it is not your typical hockey ice rink. This ice rink has illuminated boards topped by a smooth white handrail. The facilities are nice. The shops are nice. The Christmas tree is nice. Other Christmas villages around the country could learn a thing or two from Bryant Park.  Sheila and Adam are on line at one of the shops waiting for some French pastries and hot apple cider... A penguin skate aid... some of the adults could have used a skate aid too! It still was not dark out when we left the park but we were dee

On our first night in Manhattan, we took a short walk uptown to see the Christmas tree and Christmas decorations in Rockefeller Center.  Somehow, we lucked out and avoided the typical Christmas crowds. I don't know how or why it happened but we actually had plenty of room to spread out and pose for some photos! The last time we visited Rockefeller Center during Christmas, we were in a Manhattan-wide mass of people, shoulder to shoulder, unable to even breath easily. On this particular night last week it was relatively quiet making our visit quite enjoyable... This photo, below, of the Zamboni on the ice rink at Rockefeller Center is one I would never normally shoot but our five year old hockey nut grandson, Lukey, will probably find this photo the most exciting of the bunch so... here it is... A lot of looking upward... Below is a single photo of the building-sized Christmas light show put on by Saks Fifth Avenue each year

During our visit to Manhattan last week, we managed to squeeze in a visit with some of my family. They live only a short commuter train ride away from Manhattan and seeing some of Manhattan at Christmastime sounded good to them anyway so we all met at a restaurant in the Empire State Building on our last evening in Manhattan. Sheila's family has been growing in recent years so we've been busy with grandchildren and creating our own new family events and memories so there really has been little time for anything else. Health problems, medical appointments and hundreds of miles of distance don't help with this situation at all either. So, it has been quite a few years since we've seen any of my own family.  After Sheila put her radiation treatment behind her, there were a number of things that moved up in priority for her, as can be expected. Seeing Manhattan at Christmastime was one of those things and getting to see my family again was another. So, once Sheila

Since Sheila's latest bout with cancer, I've been doing all I can to keep her happy and keep her mind off the cancer as best as I can. She had already received a few gifts to lift her spirits throughout treatment but she also expressed that she would like to visit Manhattan for Christmas. Needless to say, we headed down to Manhattan earlier this week to spend some time there while the city is decorated for Christmas.  As usual, we traveled on Amtrak so we didn't need to worry about staying awake while driving nor did we need to worry about where to park the car once we arrived in Manhattan. Amtrak has proven to be a mostly trouble-free way to travel for us. I'll write more about our journey on Amtrak soon.  I picked out an historic hotel and we reserved a good-sized suite by Manhattan standards. The location of this hotel was perfect for our plans... mid-town Manhattan, near all the animated storefront windows decorated for Christmas, near the Empire State Building

Every year, we kick off our Christmas season with a dinner with friends at a restaurant in Stowe. This is what we did yesterday and, as always, we had a great time. Thank you, Frank, for arranging this little get-together each year! The food was delicious! Actually, over the course of the day and between Adam, Sheila and I, we went through seven entrees... two orders of Maine Crab Cakes, Maple Buffalo Wings, an Artisanal Cheese Plate, and then three dinners at our table. Oh yeah... and we had a few desserts as well which were equally as good. Every plate was delicious! We had a really great time and this annual event with friends always proves to be a great way to kick off our Christmas season!