Thanksgiving

"Reflect upon your present blessings of which every man has many - not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some".        Charles Dickens

Home Sweet Home Sold

After the wonderful family dinner at Monastero’s  in Chicago I happily went back to my hotel room to pack and relax as I had to be at 3:30am for a 6:30 am flight to Boston.  I love to travel.  I also love to go home.  As I was packing I got excited to get back to my sweet little Cape-style home in Milton.  Then I felt like I walked into that proverbial brick wall.  I literally caught my choked up breath; finished packing, and climbed into my huge king size bed to watch some t.v.  Thank God, I did get some sleep.
 It’s funny, now that I have the precious gift of time, flying standby causes no anxiety, and I have easily gotten on my chosen flights.  I had no idea how short the flight is from the East Coast to Chicago.  I will be going back.  I got to Logan Airport and easily jumped on the still free Silverline to South Station.  Thank you, MBTA.  How funny it is when life turns things around.  As I walked to my car on the rooftop parking lot, I thought, “Wait, this isn’t my license plate.”  Another breath, “Oh, yes, this also isn’t my car anymore.  It’s Katie’s!”
      Desperate for coffee, I stopped at the Dunkin Donuts in East Milton Square.  Thankfully, I did not run into anyone I know, wasn’t in the “mood.”  As I was driving to Mom’s my, Katie’s, trusty Rav automatically  started on the route to 53 Pleasant Street.  That’s when I started to sob, quickly got off that road, and steered the car in the direction of my Mom’s.  Getting to Mom’s quiet, empty home, I proceeded to take a very long nap. 

              I gratefully spent my few days in Milton catching up with my Closest Friends, having appointments (Hairdresser, Financial advisor, Doctor), and good quiet time with Mom.  Thanksgiving, for one of the very few times in my Adult life, I was simply a guest!  I did bring Champagne and do the dishes.  Katie wanted to do her first Thanksgiving, and loved doing it.  She outdid herself, and a far as I’m concerned she can have that Holiday for as long as she wants!  It was a nice quiet one with just the Girls, my Mom and me.  Perfect.  We went to my Cousin’s for dessert which gave us the lovely chaos, confusion, and laughter at the end of a wonderful day.

              
           I came back to NCY and my Hx3 on Friday, the day after Thanksgiving.  As I walked into my Hx3, I was content, and grateful!  I then went down to Central’s Holiday Market to help for a few hours at Tuff Kookooshka so the Gonye Family could have an evening out together.  I also spent a few hours there on Saturday.  Saturday evening I had a light dinner at my Sojourn as I had no food in the Hx3.

Monday I had signed up to volunteer at Lincoln Square’s Winter’s Eve.  I headed over to the West Side early as I wanted to go to an exhibit at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center.  As I walked down Broadway, I was a bit hungry.  Not wanting to actually go to a restaurant, I finally tried out a small taco food truck.  Delicious and only $2, perfect!  I happily entered the Library, and on my way to the exhibit I was there for, I noticed beautiful photographs lining the hallway.  An unheralded exhibition of Michael Peto’s Photography took my breath away.   

 

From the NYPL’s website:  “A collaborative project with the University of Dundee, Scotland, National Portrait Gallery, London, The Observer, and The Scottish Parliament, Edinburgh.

Three institutions in London, New York and Edinburgh will program a season of portfolio exhibitions by the Hungarian-born photojournalist Michael Peto (1908-1970) from The Peto Collection at the University of Dundee. Best known for his coverage of 1950s and 1960s performance in London for The Observer newspaper, Tatler and The (London) Times, this exhibition examines Peto's signature approach to celebrity images of actors, musicians and dancers.  Featured in the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts exhibit are his photographs of Ian McKellen, Maggie Smith, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, the legendary partnership of Rudolph Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn, and, celebrating the 50th anniversary of their stardom, The Beatles.”

I then found my way into “The Line King. Al Hirschfield.”  OMG, it was an amazing exhibit.  Also from the NYPL webiste: “Al Hirschfeld’s career began at Goldwyn Pictures in 1920 across the street from the main branch of the New York Public Library, and over the next nine decades, Hirschfeld and the Library grew even closer. Hirschfeld availed himself of The Library’s book and picture collections, he attended its events, and was a lifelong supporter. Over the years, the Library has collected original Hirschfeld drawings, paintings, and prints, and its shelves are filled with books and publications featuring Hirschfeld artwork (including fifty years of the Best Plays series), as well as posters, album covers, and all manner of ephemera. His barber chair and drawing table, where he created virtually all of his work, now greets visitors to The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts on the plaza of Lincoln Center.

Al Hirschfeld (1903 – 2003) brought a new set of visual conventions to the task of  performance portraiture when he made his debut in 1926. His signature work, defined by a linear calligraphic style, made his name a verb: to be "Hirschfelded" was a sign that one has arrived. Hirschfeld said his contribution was to take the character, created by the playwright and portrayed by the actor, and reinvent it for the reader. Playwright Terrence McNally wrote: "No one 'writes' more accurately of the performing arts than Al Hirschfeld. He accomplishes on a blank page with his pen and ink in a few strokes what many of us need a lifetime of words to say."

Now for the first time, the largest library collection of Hirschfeld artwork and archival material will be brought together in a new exhibition, The Line King’s Library: Al Hirschfeld at The New York Public Library, in the Oenslager Gallery at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts to commemorate the 110th anniversary of Al Hirschfeld’s birth, and to celebrate the latest gift of Hirschfeld papers and objects.” 

Rex Harrison and Julie Andrews in My Fair Lady

I appreciated these thoughts from the Exhibition brochure: “Line as movement-prancing, skipping, twisting and dancing, according to critic Michael Kimmelan, “was the vehicle through which Hirschfield conveyed the adrenaline rush of live theatre and his absorption in the here and now, resulting in art that looks eternally, uncannily fresh.”   And, as the playwright William Saroyan wrote in 1941, “I like everything of Hirschfeld’s  I’ve seen.  I don’t know why and I don’t need to know why.  I like people like Hirschfeld because they’re the best, and I like what they do because they can’t help it and only want you to be happy.”  Perfectly said.  I agree.

(New Yorkers, and anyone coming to New York City, these exhibits both end January 4^th and are free!  Run, don’t walk!

Accumulating a collection of lanyards!

           By now it was time to head over to sign-in for Lincoln Square’s Winter’s Eve.  It is NYC’s Largest Holiday Festival (all along Broadway from Time Warner Center to 68^th Street), with live music, family fun, dancing, all free with food from some of the area’s best restaurants from $1-4!  After enjoying my box dinner, I simply had to hand out the evening’s programs and glowsticks! along Restaurant Row.   I was right across the street from the tree lighting, although I couldn’t really hear Arlo Guthrie.  It was fun, easy, if not pretty crowded at times.  That is New York, and I did get to see some true New Yorkers almost duke it out in regards to lines for one of the biggest named restuarants!  Never a dull moment.  When the need died down for programs, I meandered along Broadway being entertained by many groups including Batala NYC, an all women’s AfroBrazilian Drum Corps.  I spoke with Stacy Kovacs, Artistic Director, and this group will now be part of the VDay celebration on February 14.  I enjoyed some of the food.  I went to the Time Warner Center, always one of the spectacular sites during the Holidays, and enjoyed the music of the Kate Davis Jazz Trio, presented by Jazz at Lincoln Center.  I then ventured to the Empire Hotel’s Rooftop Bar for the final musical event of the night, the Stephane Wrembel Trio.  Great fun!








            Because the night was still young, by New York City standards, I went into my standby, yes Sojourn, for more music with  Karen and the Sugar Daddies.  The air was electric.  Everyone was up and wanted to play.  We all danced.  It was amazing!