This past Tuesday was the Winter Solstice - the “shortest day of the year”. It was also the first day of winter. Winter conjures up visions of cold and snow. For me, beginning yesterday, the days will be getting longer and we’ll enjoy a little more sunlight every day. I’ll focus on the sunshine and look forward to Spring Equinox. Happy Holidays.  

For over 40 years, The Kennedy Center Awards have celebrated America’s cultural icons. This year’s cast of honorees are terrific.  In alphabetic order they are: the opera singer Justino Diaz, Motown’s creator Berry Gordy, singer-actor Bette Midler, Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels, and singer Joni Mitchell.  

We have all had at least one, or now maybe two birthdays since the pandemic began.  Celebrations have turned into gyrations of creativity and honestly it has been fun to watch.  

Anyone who knows me knows I love to travel.  The last time I travelled outside of the US was in February 2020.  We had planned and taken a family trip to Italy.  We left evening the day after COVID-19 was detected in Italy    

I suspect folks who attended the Gotham Happy Hour on Friday might expect one of my musicals blog. Suspect they need to wait until the proverbial next year, to apply the well-used cliché. Instead, I prefer to hail and welcome a significant change in the fraternal Order Knights of Pythias.

Have you noticed it? Everyone has a heightened sense of anxiety. Lack of social interaction, polarizing politics, mutating viruses...it's no wonder.     We all have coping mechanisms and many are taking it out on their fellow humans by acting aggressively with little tolerance for their opinion or even consideration. I believe we are truly living in unique times.   How about everyone take a big breath (outside of course:) and stop cutting me off on the road! 

The best word to describe the afterglow generated by last week’s annual Holiday Party is the Yiddish word Kvell, which I jokingly described as a “Legal term” during the party, but is more accurately defined as “to be extraordinarily pleased; to be bursting with pride, as over one’s family.”So many operative/descriptive words:

We have to remember many, many dates. Birthdays, anniversaries, and others. I sometimes test myself with the birthdays of our seven grandchildren.There is a new date that must be stored in our memory bank: the date of your second Covid vaccination (or the single dose of Johnson). It’s the date that is needed, along with other information, to confirm and download the New York State Excelsior Pass - a convenient way to prove vaccination status.