I opened presents on this, the first christmas I have spent away from my family, in the company of the Yule Log. A New York tradition, the Yule Log is broadcast with carols from 7-11 on christmas morning. If the picture looks a little funny, it's only partly because it's a photo of the television: the Yule Log, according to the indicia and warped colors, was taped in 1970. It's hypnotic to watch, though.
Afterward I headed to St. Parick's Cathedral for Christmas mass. Man, what an absolute ZOO that turned out to be. The cathedral holds around
2,500 people, and was packed full for both the 12 and 1 o'clock masses. I arrived about halfway trough the noon mass - hoping to avoid some of the crowds - and managed to get a seat for the 1 o'clock. The music was very moving, and the homily was surprisingly good. The cathedral is gorgeous, and I'd like to go back when there aren't so many people so that I could take a look around.
Through great effort, Athena convinced me to have christmas dinner with her big greek family. I was not too keen on being with a family that was not my own, but her family was very welcoming, very funny, and, in the words of her granmother, "very different" from what I was missing. The food was really good, and afterward I crashed at Athena's and we watched stupid movies on TV. This, somehow, turned into a 2-day event complete with a tour of her hometown, the ordering of pizza, and more movies. The view from her hometown is pictured here - that's NYC way off in the distance. All in all, this turned out to be one of the best times I have had since leaving Michigan. I am tremendously grateful to Athena and her family.
On the way to NJ for dinner, I passed this, which will become the first entry into my new book, Things That Should Not Have Their Own House.
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