Photo of the day: HOW ARE YOU BRINGING HOME YOUR CHRISTMAS TREE? – Despite the fact that you see endless traffic in New York City, most New Yorkers don’t have cars nor even know how to drive. (I didn’t learn till my move to Tucson, Arizona at age 38.) The cars you see are from the far reaches of the outer boroughs, from tourists and rentals.
So we have to be a little more inventive when we bring home our Christmas trees. I have seen Christmas trees rolled home on skateboards, pushed in shopping carts, taken on the subway (a 7 footer!), by sleds in the snow, in taxi cabs and even in baby carriages. So, how are you bringing home your Christmas tree?
Mine came home via mom’s mint green Floridian shopping cart
Like this:
Like Loading...
December 18, 2013 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 7 train, bring home the Christmas tree in New York City, Bronx, Brooklyn, Christmas, Christmas tree, Christmas tree in a shopping cart, Christmas tree on the subway, Christmas trees, dachshund, Hans Von Rittern, Manhattan, New York City, New York photo, old lady with dachshund and Xmas tree, Photo of the day, photography, Queens, Staten Island, subway, Xmas trees | Leave a comment
A GARBAGE MAN WHO HAS (CREATIVE) BALLS: As I walked my dog last night I saw a local resident here in Sunnyside, Queens had thrown out their Christmas tree replete with all the plastic ornaments. As I walked by this morning . . . I noticed the garbage and the tree had been picked up, but not quite all the ornaments. Our garbage man got a little creative and decorated our tree on the street! Merry Januarymas!
Like this:
Like Loading...
January 12, 2013 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: Christmas, Christmas ornaments, Christmas tree, creative, Garbage man, Hans Von Rittern, New York City, ornaments, Queens, Sanitation Department, Sunnyside, Sunnyside Gardens | 1 Comment
CELEBRATING THE THREE KINGS: While the ornaments may have vanished from store windows on December 26th, Christians will finish their celebration of Christmas on Sunday, January 6th with the feast of the Epiphany, the twelfth and final day of the Christmas. Many people confuse when the Twelve days of Christmas actually take place. A Lot of people think it’s the 12 days leading up to Christmas, and that it’s counting down to Christmas. As soon as the day is over, the 12 days of Christmas start, but a lot of people take down their decorations the day after.
The Twelve Days of Christmas grows out of European tradition that links the feasts of The Nativity and The Epiphany. In many traditions early on, there was not a whole lot of emphasis on Christmas as a holiday; more of the focus was on Easter and the resurrection.
During the season of Advent, the approximately month-long period prior to Christmas, Christians are encouraged to focus on readying themselves for Jesus’ birth, these preparations are not made with presents, but with Scripture readings and charitable work so that the hearts and minds of Christians will be in the spirit to celebrate the birth of Christ.
There are seasons of feasting and seasons of preparation. But in our culture, we want feasting all the time, all lights and decorations. The commercial world is going on and on about the singing of the Christmas carols, which is a little premature…unless you know what you’re celebrating and that’s what Advent does.
Mom and I do not put up all of our decorations until December 22nd. Those decorations then remain in place until after the Twelve Days of Christmas have ended.
The real religious significance is that on the twelfth day it is believed to be the day three wise men journeyed to Jesus’ birthplace and paid their respects to him by offering presents. An Epiphany Festival means “manifestation of the light.” And so, mom and I will light the candles on our tree one last time tonight.
See my post of December 26th about our traditional German candle lit tree!
“We three kings of Orient are
Bearing gifts we traverse afar.
Field and fountain, moor and mountain,
Following yonder star.
O star of wonder, star of night,
Star with royal beauty bright,
Westward leading, still proceeding,
Guide us to thy perfect Light.”
Like this:
Like Loading...
January 6, 2013 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 12 days of Christmas, candel lit tree, celebration of christmas, Christmas, Christmas ornaments, Christmas tree, feast of the epiphany, German European tradition, Hans Von Rittern, home, New York City, Sunnyside, Sunnyside Gardens, THE THREE KINGS, THE THREE WISEMEN, the twelve days of Christmas, three wise men, twelve days of christmas | Leave a comment
MY OLD FASHIONED GERMAN CHRISTMAS TREE: Yes – those are real candles. We celebrate with no flashing lights or loud music, our ‘church’ is the tree. The tree is decorated with ornaments dating back several generations, about ninety years. Modern ones are included of course, that way the tree is a living story of the family’s history. Tin foil wrapped chocolates and marzipan fill the tree as well. We usually get the biggest tree that will fit in the apartment (we once had a 14 foot tall tree) but now that mom is downsizing, we get a smaller tree and it is placed on a turn of the century old wooden steamer trunk that was used when my great aunt came to visit us in the New York and it is used as a table base to place the tree upon.
Depending on the size of the tree, anywhere from two to four dozen candles are placed in strategic spots in the tree. Each candle illuminates the special ornaments nearby. The candleholders are metal clip-ons in the shape of a pine cone. You can still buy the candles and holders at Schaller and Weber’s, a surviving German delicatessen just off 86th Street on Second Avenue in what was once an entire German neighborhood.
December 24 Christmas eve, the elder in the family lights the candles in the room and on the tree and puts the ‘Christmas record’ on the phonograph. The record is of German church bells and church choirs singing. When all is ready, a golden bell is rung and the rest of the family comes into the glow of the room. We stand quietly side by side, arm in am or holding hands and quietly listen to the beautiful music we have listened to for decades before. That is ‘church’ to us. As the first side of the record ends, we play the other side, sit down and just quietly gaze into the serene candlelight, watching the ornaments glisten. No lights are on in the room, just the glow of candlelight, just as it is in Germany, France, and all of Scandinavia. Let your imagination go back to the late 1800’s enjoying a room just simply lit by candlelight (which is the most complimentary to any face!).
The second side of the record ends with a jolly children’s song “Der Weihnachtsman ist da!/Santa Claus is here!”, signifying it is time to open presents by the amber glow. We grab some of the marzipan, gingerbread and chocolates that are on the dining table for all to enjoy as we open our treasures. At midnight a bottle of champagne is opened to ring in Christmas day. At one time it was my whole family enjoying this tradition, now it is just my mother and me left to carry on, and sadly on day it will just be me, but I will always do it, perhaps with a heavy heart. But this is Christmas, a German Christmas, my heritage. My great grandmother’s, grandparent’s, mother’s and my heritage. Fröhliche Weihnachten!
Like this:
Like Loading...
December 26, 2012 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: candle glow, candle lit tree, Christmas candle, Christmas ornaments, christmas record, Christmas tree, family traditions, German Christmas tree, German traditions, Germany, Hans Von Rittern, home, New York City, schaller and weber, steamer trunk, Sunnyside Gardens | 1 Comment
THE ULTIMATE NEW YORK TREE: If you are rushing home for the holidays and find yourself in Grand Central Terminal needing a last minute gift? Rush over to their Christmas Market and find ‘HUT STUDIOS’. You can find every beloved and some quirky New York icons available for your tree. It’s the perfect last minute gift as you rush on your way to the folks back home! Are you just visiting NYC? – they are the quintessential unique souvenirs. Artists Richard Hopper and Harold Gilstein have photoshopped images of New York (the Pan Am Building, the Flatiron Building, the Roosevelt Island Tramway) decoupaged into 3-D ornaments ($30 to $45). You can also buy an Astor Place train station business card holder, a Grand Central Terminal box, or The Ansonia, The Dakota, Chrysler, Empire, the Chelsea Hotel, in storage box form.
It is your one chance to buy a piece of real estate at affordable prices! You can now truly say “I’ll take Manhattan” . . . and not go broke – Enjoy !
Like this:
Like Loading...
December 23, 2012 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: 3-D ornaments, arts, Christmas gifts, Christmas market, Christmas ornaments, Christmas tree, Chrysler building, decoupage, Empire State Building, Flatiron building, Grand Central Terminal, Hans Von Rittern, Harold Gilstein, HUT STUDIOS, last minute gifts, Manhattan, New York City, photoshop, Richard Hopper, Roosevelt Tram, souvenir, Staten Island Ferry, United Nations, Woolworth Building | Leave a comment
HOW ARE YOU BRINGING YOUR CHRISTMAS TREE HOME?? . . . no story here, just askin’ ? . . .
Like this:
Like Loading...
December 11, 2012 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: Christmas, Christmas tree, Hans Von Rittern, Manhattan, New York City, subway | Leave a comment
NEW YORK GLITTER:What is more shiny and bright than New York?
New York and Christmas just go perfectly together just like the glass ornaments in my tree, I love they way they reflect light and shine – just as New York City does.
And what is more New York than a bright yellow shiny taxi cab or bagels and cream cheese from your favorite delicatessen? The iconic I Love New York logo or the silhouette of the beautiful Flatiron building?
Christmas trees and New York – two big extravaganzas filled with colorful ornaments.
Big, shiny and bright! HAPPY HOLIDAZE !
All these ornaments are for sale on my EBAY page, seller ID: VONRITT
Like this:
Like Loading...
November 28, 2012 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: Bagels and cream cheese, Christmas ornaments, Christmas tree, delicatessen, Flatiron building, Hans Von Rittern, I Love New York logo, Manhattan, New York City, yellow taxi cab | Leave a comment
A CHRISTMAS TREE IS COMING!: Today Rockefeller Center will erect the annual New York City Christmas tree. Not your ordinary tree. This Norway Blue Spruce is from our neighboring state New Jersey and weighs 10 tons. It will stand a 80 feet (24 meters) in height, 50 feet wide (15 meters).
If you have ever complained about putting up the lights on your tree – you have nothing to complain about. This tree will take 40,000 LED lights winding over 6 miles of wire! The world famous Swarovski company will supply the crystal star atop the tree. The official lighting ceremony draws thousands of people including a gaggle of celebrities and will take place Wednesday, November 28th. Tis the season . . .
Like this:
Like Loading...
November 14, 2012 | Categories: DAILY PHOTOS WITH STORIES OF NEW YORK CITY | Tags: Christmas tree, Hans Von Rittern, Manhattan, New Jersey, New York City, Norway blue spruce, Rockefeller Center | Leave a comment
NEW YORK CITY - IN THE WIT OF AN EYE 