We spoke in hushed quiet tones…
“Babe, look at that.”
“That is so beautiful.”
“It’s absolutely magical, I feel like it was created just for us.”
Several hours earlier…
My building is endowed with an over-efficient boiler. It’s only a few years old and really does its job. Translation? My building is always hot. Africa hot. We all complain about it, and there is absolutely nothing that can be done except turn the whole damn thing off. Which would be fine for my ilk, but all the little old ladies living here would have a fit. Trust me on that one. My radiators have been closed since I’ve lived here. Despite that, there is still a lot of heat rising from the floors below me, and my windows are always open in the winter. Ally da Pup sleeps next to the fan to cool off. HCFG who is warm-blooded (yummy!) has been known to ask that the air conditioning be turned on when it’s 30 degrees outside.
Tonight was another one of those nights. HCFG requested the air conditioner but I resisted. He opened the bedroom window instead. My apartment faces another building and everything was dark. We were half asleep when some lights came on.
My neighbor had turned on the lights on her Christmas tree. And there were no other lights anywhere. Her small tree was lined up just perfectly, to shine through her window and into ours, so it lit up our room like a magical fairy tale.
It was absolutely enchanting. What a gift to realize that such a small thing could bring so much pleasure.
Hope your holidays are just as special and bright!
Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, and Kwanzaa greetings from Lisa B., HCFG, and Ally da Pup.
(This post originally appeared on Kizmeet)
The best things are the small things. Glad you found your special Christmas early on and shared it with us.
Happy, Happy. Merry, Merry.
Happy holidays to you as well.
It truly is the small things in life that mean the most. Have a great Christmas
I’ll say it again
Merry Christmas, Lisa B., HCFG and Ally Da Pup! Call your neighbor and request a repeat tonight.
Aww, sounds just perfect for the 2 of you! Like your own candle lit glow! Merry Christmas to you both! (((Hugs)))
A beautiful story. And short, fitting the topic well.
Happy holidays to you. I know you found what you wanted already this year … but I hope the final days of 2008 bring you continued joy.
Merry Christmas to you and yours, and Happy New Year, if I don’t make it back in time!
Hmm, looks like your feed isn’t working again. I’ll look into that. Our only Christmas tree is one across the pond in a neighbor’s living room. I like it that way. No work. No cleanup. No threat of fire.
Merry Christmas to both of you. Love you lots!
We have this sort of “communal gas, sewer, and water” bill at my apartment–they get one bill for the whole building and divide it between all the units.
It really sucks if you are warm-blooded–I mean, you can open all the windows and make it a meat locker if you want, and take five minute showers, but you are still gonna get a $95 bill in January.
Why hasn’t the price of natural gas gone DOWN? I thought it followed the price of petroleum.
Oh, well…
Merry Christmas to you!!!
“Tarzan couldn’t take this kind of hot.”
Sorry.
I love those little moments of “this is ours.” I keep having them, here. We drive by some beautiful hotel, or go get our car from the parking garage at a time when the city is lit up like a neon jungle, and I say, “Holy crap – I live here.”
And moments like that aren’t just free, they’re priceless.
Merry Christmas, Lisa B., HCFG and Ally Da Pup!
Where’s the photo of this site?
Also, Happy NY New Year!
Yes, it was really cool to see the neighbor’s little tableau that just happened to face the right way. If the tree were placed about three inches either side of its location, we wouldn’t have been able to see it. So it’s really nice to experience coincidences that work out nicely like that. And the lighting on both the tree and on the window curtains that framed the scene were like something you’d expect to see in the Osmond Family Christmas special, except that this wasn’t built up by a team of gaffers and set decorators under the manic guidance of some second assistant director. That made it all the more special.
Dear, you forgot to mention in your closing line “Happy Festivus” for all the Seinfeld fans out there…