Oh Fenstersims, Oh Fenstersims

Since I don't have a Christmas tree to stand around and sing O, Tannenbaum to this year I will just have to sing O, Christmas Fenstersims, O Christmas Fenstersims. That's the German word for ledge and that's what I'm going with. It doesn't have quite the same ring to it but we're doing non-traditional at my house.

Were it not for company that arrived on Saturday for a week long stay I don't think I would have bothered with decorating this year. It's not that I am being bah humbug about it but we are only in town for two and a half weeks before we head back to Kansas for the family celebrations. No packages will be finding their way under a tree here as online ordered gifts are already being shipped to my sister's doorstep in my hometown. So what to do for decorations?

My decision was made when a very helpful street vendor of beautiful Christmas trees was willing to dig through her bag of trimmed branches to provide me enough to decorate the ledge by my dining room table. This was a thrifty twenty dollar decision since my alternative was to hit the flower shops for garland and I won't even venture to guess what that would have run me here they city. Bless her heart she was more stringent in branch selection than I was. Is this full enough? she would ask or would you like some of the errant sprigs trimmed off? She gently laid them in a trash bag and off we went, glad not to be dragging a 5' tree down the street. 

At home I rummaged in yet another trash bag full of last years decorations and managed to cobble together a display that looks wonderful at night but will likely look like a hot mess during the day. It takes a certain knack to hide miles of lights in tree branches. Thank goodness we will be out most days this next week and it gets dark at 4:30pm.

Christmas themed pillows and a small table poinsettia rounded out the decorations. Now, everyone join me in a rousing chorus of O Christmas Ledge, O Christmas Ledge.

Airplane Mode

Flying has been a big part of our lives since we moved to NYC. Flying to different destinations to see family and friends, going on a couple of vacations, and attending weddings have taken us out of the city more than I had anticipated. By my estimation we have spent approximately one week out of the city for every month we have lived here. So figure at least twenty four flights over the last two years.  I pretty much knew the flying had taken a toll when I was looking out my window for The Arch of St. Louis while taking off from Kansas City this week. Oops.

 Our flights to Kansas for Thanksgiving were the first we've flown since the FAA approved the use of electronic devices during takeoff and landing  - as long as they are in airplane mode. No more grabbing for newspapers or magazines while waiting for the magical 10,000 feet "you can now use your devices" blessing. Fire those e-books up and read your way from gate to gate! And there is just something about those two segments of a flight that beg for musical accompaniment. Taking off to a soft piano/guitar serenade and landing with Frank Sinatra belting "New York, New York" seems fitting.

What I am not ready for and will never be ready for is approval of cell phone calls during flights. I was already ensconced in my window seat with my husband in his aisle seat when much to our dismay we acquired a middle seat partner. She put a carry-on in the overhead bin, maneuvered into her seat, stuffed additional bags around her feet, gyrated around until she could find her seat belts, all while carrying on a business conversation. Had she had approval to make calls during the flight I have no doubt in my mind that by the time we landed I would have known her clients names, who was/or wasn't performing their jobs, what their goals were, and a checklist of how they were going to get things done. Thanks but no thanks, FAA.

I figure people can sleep, sit quietly, read books, listen to music, use wi-fi to text or write e-mails, or converse (softly!) with their seat partners. I don't want to hear anyone making hair appointments, describe ailments to their doctors, get tax advice, try to recruit the next hot athlete, or gossip about their neighbors.

I figure if our electronic devices can have an airplane mode then so can people.