A must-read Christmas post from a former poster

New York at Christmas, finally.

The words filled my mind as I disembarked from the plane. I was making a pilgrimage of sorts, an odd voyage of discovery, for although I was no stranger to New York, I had never seen it during the holidays.

How many times had I been told what a dazzling spectacle it was? I had heard that Christmas was celebrated here like nowhere else, that here there was magic: the trees along Park Avenue, lit and twinkling in the night; the fantastic window displays in the stores on Fifth Avenue; the monumental tree at Rockefeller Center; the candlelight tours through the neighborhoods; the roasted chestnuts and the exuberance of the people; the sheer gorgeousness of everything. A friend, a fellow Torontonian, who had lived in New York for several years, still spoke as familiarly of Christmas there as if he had never left.

';At Christmas, there is a vibration in the air,'; he said. ';If you look at New York as staggering random energy, then the note that the tuning fork strikes at Christmas is purer. There is a silent bond of communication between everyone.';

Such comments excited my imagination. I knew after all that New York has more of everything: more fine restaurants, more theater, more music, more money, more imposing architecture. But could this fabled city of everything grand really be more so at Christmas? Could things be gayer and quicker and jauntier and more thrilling? Could the citizens of this most crowded island find room in their hearts for each other, and the millions of visitors? Could the luminous streets send such light-borne sparks, en masse, the people would be touched, their spirits lifted and glowing?

Now it was time to find out.

I took a cab into Manhattan. Something special was in the air. I could see it in the way people walked, buoyantly, almost as if they were dancing. Whatever they carried--gifts, surely, and lightheartedness--the material apparently had no weight. We seemed to walk as one, characterized by the state we constantly seek in everyday life but which is so elusive: lost in the present, thrilled to be where we are, carried along by the night and the promise of something special coming. And in that crush, what vitality, what hope, a glimpse of possibility, a sense of what we might become.

A festive feeling possessed me as a world of sweet and unexpected pleasures opened on all sides. I hadn%26#39;t known about the brilliant yet ethereal snowflake suspended where Fifth Avenue meets 57th Street. It seemed so deliciously silly, like a child%26#39;s explosion of art. It spoke of a burst of joy, of the workings of the imagination. I was cheered by the splendor of what I was seeing, stirred by the intensity that made the streets crackle. Such was the power I felt as I walked along.

';Oh, to be young and in New York and to have eyes that light up all things with the sweetest and most golden glow,'; wrote Tom Wolfe. I was not that young, but the light was there, it was there.

I recalled what a policeman had told me in Central Park, that at Christmas the city grows friendlier, the people more like residents of a small community than of the flashiest, most cosmopolitan city in the world. Friends, family, love and closeness were all around me. This was the sensation that New York was awakening within me. I loved it. I loved everything about it, the enthusiasm, the way we all walked with such vigor, the spring in our steps. New York was a trampoline. I bounced. It was as if I was being swept along by a wave. I wanted to be carried along, where the streets are as brilliant as the sky, where I feel fresh and new and childlike. And the churches. When a church door opens for a few moments, releasing a glow of light and a drift of voices joined in song, I am swept away by a rush of generous feelings.

The music, too, is everywhere. Brass ensembles play on street corners. A resonant carol rings from the pan of a steel drum. Up at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, cloisters are in full voice. I hear them, I hear them. My step slows; I pause, warmed and graced.

And yet, and yet...The city sparkles and joy is in the air. But I am alone here. I feel a pang for a moment. Just as quickly, however, I realize that I do feel part of something because we in the streets are sharing the spirit. I feel the ecstatic presence of children. We are all children in New York at Christmas. We feel a sense of wonder. We are open-minded and both laughter and tears come freely. We are curious. We become more ourselves in the city that in transforming itself transforms us. Do the lights on and above this most sophisticated city not remind us %26#39;Tis the season to be light, to light up inside, to polish our best selves and shine? And I think this is the way most New Yorkers and most visitors feel at Christmas. They are ready to make miracles, they await miracles.

On my first night in New York I heard a voice call my name. Was I hearing right? Nobody knew I was in the city. Turning around I saw a friend from Vancouver. I was astonished to meet him on this night in this place. Yet--if we were to meet accidentally anywhere, surely it would be during the Christmas season, when New York attracts us , centripetal force that it is. Families plan months in advance to come into the city to walk up Fifth Avenue and marvel. New York at Christmas is an event, when mankind formalizes its need to rejoice.

That chance encounter was, for me, its essence: a dream, a bright surprise, the sheer energy of positive emotions and tender feelings made real. The city is never lovelier.

I plan to return to New York again for Christmas. I will walk with a woman who knows the city streets well, and who, after a lifetime of New York Christmases, still looks forward to each new one as if it will be her first. We will visit the stunning window displays in the department stores. We will skate at Rockefeller Center and stand beneath the Brooklyn Bridge, there to be dazzled by the panorama of the Manhattan skyline. I will again wander through F.A.O. Schwarz--to further encourage the child in me--and walk on a clear, cold night through Central Park snacking on roasted chestnuts.

I want to do it all in New York at Christmas this year, because New York is the Christmas place. I feel at home here. I will feel at home again this Christmas. How could I not, in a city and during a time when the human spirit soars so high?

A must-read Christmas post from a former poster

I love that post.

100 days left!

A must-read Christmas post from a former poster

that has got me even more excited!! this time in 3 mths we will be there...cant wait!

Wow - should be required reading for everyone, evrywhere.

It, the fact that the holidays are coming, dawns on me as soon as I see Jerry Lewis sing ';When You Walk Alone';.

Oh My God! This is a lifelong dream of mine to go to NYC over Christmas. I will finally do so this December 10th with my future husband (we%26#39;re getting married on the 9th) who has NEVER been.

Thanks for sharing. I%26#39;m definitely in ';A New York State of Mind';!

We fly in to NYC in 99 days, Yes thats rightm Christmas day!!!!!!!! We get married on Dec. 24th.

Have the hotel and 5 shows booked and paid for. We cant wait!

Wow Wingman...what a way with words!!! Eloquent.

I too am booked for Xmas Day through New Years day, however, just found out this week my 80 year old mom has been diagnosed with liver and lung cancer. Don%26#39;t know what the next few months will bring. We%26#39;ll see if our trip is meant to be.

Thanks again Wingman!

Just don;t forget two more things

Christmas decorations market at Columbus Circle

Sacks decorations

Observation deck at the Rockefeller Center

Carols at GReenwich Village

FAO is back !!

taxiplease:

Sorry about your mom, hope she will be ok.

WOW!! So beautifully written, it brought the hairs up on the back of my neck. This posting to me epitomises the spirit and adventure and glow of Christmas.....I am visiting 26th November for 5 nights, so I am hoping to feel some of that Christmas atmosphere that Wingman talks about....

But whoever you are wherever you are at Christmas this year, bless you all, and may all your hopes and dreams come true.

Taxiplease....as you say, if it is meant to be - you will be there! Take care of your Mom and go with your heart - it will always be true! I hope things go well for her.