Blingle bells

New York suburbia is something to behold. Big Christmas house bling everywhere. Twinkling and sparkling, and most importantly, out doing the neighbours.Christmas is my favourite time of year, and to be in the Big Apple, in the run up to Christmas day is akin to be a fairy on top of the tree.


After a little while, we arrived in Plainview (I know the address by heart now), there was Suzala! The last time I clapped eyes on her in the real flesh, opposed Skype flesh, was in about 1994 ... last century! It was over 20 years since we'd played snow angels in Queens and been buffeted by Buster on the way to the bathroom. It could've been yesterday!

It's hard to explain the real joy, when you reunite with a good, good friend after too long and a lot of world in between. What to compare it to? I don't think I'll try to attempt a cheesy analogy ... no ... no ... no ... I will. It's the cheese on the pizza of life ... and I'm talking pizza supreme.

And here we were, the American family, and the New Zealand family ... and Smudge the cat. Hard to believe we were standing in the living room, with squirrels in the backyard, in our winter woolies - a warm sun left in another hemisphere. Suffice to say, lots of talking (three days solid), lots of hugging, and laughter.

Arriving on December 10, the city was gearing up for Christmas. On the first day, after a slumbersome morning, we found ourselves in a massive discount mall. An ice-skating rink, a perfectly pointy Christmas tree and toy soldiers fit for a giant's toybox. The only thing missing was shoppers ... we were it. There were puddles, and robotic albeit delightful good manners.

Our hostess with the mostess ferried us around the shops -we were swallowed by Nike and burped out into Reebok. As the shopping bags filled ... our eyes tired ... boy these folk do good Christmas!

Tomorrow,  our adventure was to take us into postcard New York, well Manhattan, where you need eyeballs on the top of your head. But there was a bit of sleep before that and some French toast, and some donuts ... and then a bit of sleep.