Christmas in New York

Immediately upon arrival, we hied up to Lincoln Center
To see what we could score on tickets.
Success with The Nutcracker by the New York City Ballet;
The Magic Flute was sold out for Christmas Eve.
Joined for dinner at Basso56, our neighborhood favorite,
Were daughters Wynne Anne, Wendy, her husband John.

Up early on the twenty-third for a vigorous day.
Which began inauspiciously, when the MetroCard machine
Ate my twenty dollar bill and refused to give it back,
Thus requiring a written complaint to secure a refund.

Down to the Imperial Theater to get good seats for
That evening's performance of Billy Elliot, the musical.
Over to Rockefeller Center to photograph the tree
Which was lit again by Turtle and Hughes, the Millards' company.

A quiet, brief celebration of Holy Eucharist
In the chantry chapel of St. Thomas.
Then down the street to the Museum of Modern Art,
A scheduled destination, to better acquaint Patrick
With the masters of contemporary art, including
My favorite, Vasily Kandinsky, renowned of line and form.
Lunch at The Modern, a truly in cafe at the museum.

Billy Elliot was Barbara's delight, and
A fitting complement to a ballet holiday.
Having nothing planned for the morning of Christmas Eve,
We sampled some of the exhibits
At the American Museum of Natural History,
Highlighted by Whoopi Goldberg's narration
Of the Journey to the Stars, in the new planetarium.

Having never seen The Nutcracker in live performance,
I was enchanted by the version by the New York City Ballet.
We thought we would call it a day after
An early dinner at P.J. Clarke's across from Lincoln Center.

When a well-dressed woman seated next to us,
Out of the blue, asked us if we would like to see the opera.
She had balcony tickets, but couldn't use them,
As her husband's father was being taken to the hospital.

So this dear lady from Mt. Kisco,
Made it possible for us to fulfil our original intent.
Back to the Met for the holiday version of The Magic Flute,
Thus completing the circle of cultural effusion. 

To Old Greenwich for a huge family Christmas
At the Millards, with twenty in attendance.
The youngest, a year and a half, and the oldest,
Well, who else would it be?

Facebook Revisited

Facebook is evil; that's what it is.
It purports to bring people together;
Instead it drives them apart
By glorifying the singularity of the individual.

One's profile presents a billboard
Of pseudo accomplishments as well as
Personal preferences that vary in tone from
From kitschy to smarmy to perverse.

Not only can a viewer not be sure
That whatever is posted is factual.
The possibility arises that a curriculum vitae
May be intentionally fanciful or entirely bogus.

Sex, age, and other personal data
May be deliberately false,
Designed to lure innocents
Into a labyrinth of specious promises.

At best, Facebook might be considered
A harmless exercise in narcissism.
But why should anyone care about
Another person's daily comings and goings?

The falsity of Facebook lies in the
Premise that a community can be organized
To further worthwhile ends
Devoid of personal contact among participants.

Such benificence doesn't happen.
The individual on Facebook listens only to oneself.
Sure that his/her activities generate interest
And admiration from his so-called friends.

Worse yet is the notion
That having someone as a Facebook friend
Entitles one to demand special favors
From persons they have never met.

Facebook should remain a plaything
Of tweens and silly game players.
Now also a medium of commercial promotion
And organizational aggrandizement.

Christmas 2010

We are blessed to continue to live in our big, beautiful house,
Thanks to an army of cleaners, landscapers, and painters.
The General Contractor continued his work this year by
Supervising installation of a variety of improvements.

Such as a ceramic cooktop, a microwave/convection oven,
An upright freezer, an attic fan, a wrought iron handrail,
And soon, gutter helmets on all 150 feet of the
Two and three story gutters surrounding the house.

Barbara continues to serve on the acquisitions committee
Of the Cape Cod Museum of Art, as a lifetime trustee.
Patrick leads a klatch of old ladies, plus one other old guy
In discussion of Eugene Peterson’s opus on “spiritural theology.”

In the spring, we took a dream cruise to the Adriatic and Aegean.
Spending days in Venice, and making port calls at
Split, Corfu, Mykonos, Dubrovnik, Crete, Athens, and Ephesus.
Followed by land tours in Florence and Rome.

We are avid patrons of the arts, on Cape Cod and in New York,
Enjoying the HD Met Opera broadcasts at the local art cinema
And the concerts of our own symphony orchestra,
Where we met in adjacent seats two years ago.

Health is always a matter of concern at eighty plus,
But so far we manage to ignore the usual aches and pains.
We thank the Good Lord for letting us keep our marbles, mostly,
And delight in one another’s company.

Blessings to you and yours,



Barbara and Patrick