Twelve days after Christmas. Today we celebrate the Christian feast of Epiphany, better known as Three Kings' Day in the Philippine tradition of the church. This is in commemoration of the arrival of the Magi in Bethlehem. Excuses will be plenty but today all Christmas decorations will be taken down and put away.
I have to trick my brain into believing that I have enough stamina for this ritual of storing these ornaments away and that this is preferable to being out there in the cold. Another snow storm is predicted for tonight and who knows what that might dump into our neck of the woods.
I really shouldn't complain since I do have a choice to stay indoors. Imagine the street vendors who have to be out there all day trying to make a buck or two selling dirty dogs, roasted chestnuts, scarves or city souvenirs. It's hard to keep a smiley face when you're out there for long hours freezing your butt.
The streets of New York wouldn't be the same without them and so we thank the cops for leaving them alone especially in the posh Fifth Avenue corners. To the occasional tourist from Minnesota or Moscow, don't despair if you don't find the exact shade of the silk pashmina you're looking for. The vendor only knows his primary colors. It is not marigold, gold, amber, buttercup, flax, lemon, saffron, canary, mustard, sunflower or mellow yellow. Yellow is yellow!
Do you really expect the poor vendor to carry the entire color spectrum? Cut the crap and stop haggling, you cheapskate! Just help the poor guy and buy the darn $5 faux pashmina shawl to take back home to your friends or relatives. Trust me, they won't know the difference!
But please be a dear and don't walk away without buying something after you've turned his stall upside down!
For the city workers who spend that precious 1-hour break eating their lunches in the park, the benches are cold and empty but welcoming. "Come sit in the sun and share his joy as the world glides by", as the sign says. Mr. Pottheiser will be happy to see you. The playgrounds are bare except for a few hungry chipmunks and squirrels. They too need to work for their living.
The days are getting longer or so it seems. That's a good sign. Brighter and hopefully warmer days are here to come. That's something I look forward to.
I'm inspired by that street peddler who braves the elements. His life on the streets injects a certain drama to our own lives. We are fortunate but not necessarily better than he is. And that colorblind knucklehead who can't decide to what scale he or she wants to live his or her life, let it be. Surprise, surprise! Sometimes we tend to act the same way.
I just had an epiphany!
