Recently Kim and I went to New York City for a few days. In the past, we often went through the city on our way back to Massachusetts. This time we took the Palisades Parkway on the Western shoreline of the Hudson River. Along the parkway are frequent pull-outs. We stopped at one near the NJ/NY state line. It was a beautiful morning. I also did not know that the Western shoreline has such high cliffs.
Thanks for stopping by.
Lars
Recently we went for a Sunday afternoon walk in Back Back. The light for just perfect. The photo here shows the Christian Science Church in beautiful light.
More beautiful light in Back Bay with some of the well-known buildings visible.
Finally, Trinity Church and Hancock Tower. After all these years living in Boston I don’t know any more tasteful combination of old and modern architecture.
Thanks for stopping by,
Lars
The Boston Christmas Tree lighting took place on December 1st on Boston Common. It was a two hour event with different performances on stage. Just before 8pm, the tree was finally lit and fireworks went off around it.
The tree lighting has a long tradition, what I did not know was the story behind the Christmas Tree Lighting. It goes back to December 6, 1917. The world was still involved in World War I. Halifax Harbor in Nova Scotia was used a lot in these days for war-related cargo shipments to and from Europe. A French ammunition ship loaded with explosives destined for Europe exploded that day when it collided with a Norwegian ship, leading to death and destruction for countless people.
While relief trains from other cities in Nova Scotia arrived later the day of the explosion, Boston sent the first relief train the night of the explosion. While heavy snowfall delayed its arrival, it arrived on December 8th at 3am. It was the beginning of a large relief effort, that later included design of the health care system in the area. This gave Boston the reputation as (outside) city that arrived first and left last.
In 1918 the city of Halifax sent Boston a Christmas tree to express gratitude for the relief effort.
In 1971, the tradition was revived and has continued since. The Christmas tree is donated by a private party, and guidelines exist for the selection of the tree. This year’s tree is from Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, and the a video of the tree cutting is available on Youtube. Thank you to the Spinney family for this beautiful tree!
Trees are often donated in memory of relatives who died in the explosion.
When I learned about the history of this tradition, it reminded me that we never know how our actions can positively affect people’s lives in the future. People in Nova Scotia still remember what people from Boston did almost 100 years ago.
Thank you for stopping by, Happy Holiday Season,
Lars