I’d be ‘lion’ if I said I didn’t want to wish you a Merry Christmas

It’s no secret that writing and books are two of my very favorite things, but what you might not know (and really, how could you since I don’t think I’ve ever really written such words) is that I love Christmas.

Mostly, it’s the festive nature and decor of the season that I love so much. I’m a sucker for white lights and trees with glinting glassy orbs and “Walking in a Winter Wonderland” and Yankee’s sadly now-defunct Christmas Eve candle and Ralphie, Randy, the Griswolds and “Love Actually” and wrapping presents and making Christmas traditions for my little nuclear family. My heart grows three sizes this time of year, I tell you.

New York makes it easy because absolutely no one nowhere does Christmas better than this here city of mine. Hello, the Rockefeller Center tree! Hello, the windows along Fifth Avenue! Hello, Christmasy Empire State Building! Hello Christmas markets at Bryant Park, Columbus Circle and Union Square! Hello, seasonal decor around just about every corner! Even the lobby of our apartment building in Harlem is all decked out in its best seasonal attire.
But up there on the list of the city’s best decorations, if I may humbly opine, are the wreaths with big red and gold bows around the necks of Patience and Fortitude, who have stoically guarded my favorite branch of the New York Public Library, the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building at Bryant Park, since 1911.

It’s ironic that I snapped a picture of Patience today, since I am not a patient person by any means, but the names of these two lions pretty much signify one of the biggest lessons I learned in 2013, so it’s a perfectly fitting picture.

It takes a certain amount of patience and fortitude to make it in New York, and this year certainly put those two traits to the test. But you know what, I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way because I’ve emerged a stronger person and a better writer, New Yorker and Nikki.

So without further ado, I wish you all a merry, merry Christmas, and let’s give a great big roaring welcome to 2014, shall we?
Roaring, get it??

NMM