An "OUR INWOOD" Thanksgiving... friends, family... and...

Hello my friends…

Well… I certainly hope that all is well with you, and yours’ and of course you know that I wish only one thing for you all…and that of course comes at the bottom of my little posting… and my wink… blink and nod…

I cannot let the opportunity to go by and not wish for you all a very Happy, Healthy and Peaceful Thanksgiving… and to remember the good old days of “OUR INWOOD” and this day that kicked-off the holiday season in the old nabe…

I had the opportunity last week to drive up Dyckman Street and hopefully… but, alas, I was too early for the holiday lights…they were not draped across the street… there were no green and red wooden poles standing like holiday sentries awaiting the hanging of alternating swags of green, red, white and gold lights… swags with centered stars, bells and snowflakes… and not seeing that they were there was a disappointment…

So, when I arrived home… I just started to take one of my winks and blinks back to those wonderful thoroughfares of both Dyckman and W. 207th Streets… of course in this little memory trip there are snowflakes falling… the stores are bustling… everyone is happy… shopping lists in hand we’re off to get the bird… the sweets and veggies… the stuffing… and of course the pies… just a few, a very few signs of Christmas are appearing… we were… I am proud to say traditionalists and Christmas waited until turkey day was over… one thing I always did do was to visit the Tara Gift Shop and get a little gift from Ireland for my grandmother… the first time I did it she exclaimed that she had never gotten a gift on Thanksgiving before… that made it a tradition for me… after all the woman who started a line of 25 grandchildren, 3-times that number in great-grandchildren deserved a little trinket from the land of her birth…

If Pop was up to it… we would make the quick subway ride downtown to “The Parade”… go over to Broadway and stand over a subway grate and be as warm as that bird we would devour later in the evening… the parade was always great… I’m talking about the years when the Philadelphia Mummers were the parade highlight… followed closely by the Oscar Mayer Wiener Mobile… the balloons were magnificent then and they still are… one thing we did not have “thank God” was NBC broadcasting “… Nothing But Commercial’s… and a network self-promotion!”

But, ahh alas…, I digress from my wink, blink and nod…

Thanksgiving Day is not to be forgotten when we remember “OUR INWOOD”… I know that many of us went to our respective houses of worship… and of course to one or two (or maybe three) homes of relatives and friends… the main course at home… desert at another perhaps that of a favorite aunt & uncle or grandparents house (… by house I mean apartment…) and yes, yes, those late night turkey sandwiches in still another…the evening’s feast was indeed incredible…

The preparation for Thanksgiving was just as exciting as the day… the purchase of the vegetables was always a ritual… and always the same… fruit from Rite Way Fruit… the veggies from DeMiglio’s… the breads, both rye and pumpernickel from Regina’s… year’s later we would add an Irish Soda Bread from Johnnies… the ice cream was from… yes… you knew it… Schillingmann’s... and the bird? Ahh… The bird came from the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company’s butcher shop…

Later on in years when we were older and more brazen… Thanksgiving Day saw us crashing the gate at the Hayes vs. Mount St. Michael Game at Baker Field…

Yes my friends, Thanksgiving in “OUR INWOOD” it was simple… it was home… it was love… and it was what I wish for you…

Peace,
Inwood Guy

Piles of red, orange and brown...

Hello my friends,

Well... you'll excuse me I hope for my lengthy absence from the blog... and if my lack of posting offended anyone I apologize... but, work has gotten so busy that I have been distracted from my promise to post regularly...

Now that Mother Nature’s entire color canopy has fallen to the ground and I have been busy raking up those leaves... I could not let this Sunday afternoon in early November go by without a wink, blink and nod... back to the parks of "OUR INWOOD"... for in my mind's eye I can still see the huge piles of red, orange and brown leaves... piled to the sky in the park... I can still hear the crunch of the leaves under my feet as I ran through those mountains of maple and oak...

Ahh, my friends... the smells of Autumn are something to behold... fresh as all outdoors as they say... the paths of Fort Tryon, Payson and Inwood Hill were the most fun in the fall...

Going up Devil's Hill to the Sun house in Fort Tryon... walking with whomever the "girl of the month was" it was a great time... stealing a kiss and holding hands... and promising a love forever... the same for a Sunday walk into Payson Park... up from the Park House... over and down into Inwood Hill... it was a climb and quite a hike... but, the paths and turns... staircases and tunnels gave locations for wonderful places and moments of teenage bliss... that still last in a wink, blink and nod...

Enjoy your time this fall my friends... think back to an afternoon when you hugged, and pecked, and kissed that special someone... and relish the comfort that those memories bring back...

Peace,
Inwood Guy