You're not very popular around these parts, what with all the lost jobs, unfound jobs, obscene political jello-wrestling, rampant greed and chicanery, and general displays of the end of civilization as we know it (exhibit one: any cover of OK! magazine). As my friend Michele said on Twitter the other day, "Dear 2010: Do not let the portal pummel your posterior on your way out."
So I feel a little sheepish—like the employee who says of a tyrannical boss, "Gosh, he's always been very nice to me"—when I thank you for the gifts of the past 12 months.
I don't know what little bird was whispering in your ear, but you seem to know my taste exactly. The life in New York is a perfect fit, and I'm already getting tons of use out of it! And I've received heaps of compliments on my new husband—what a great find! Thank you, so much, for everything.
Our arrival in New York City on January 1, 2010 after a spectacular cross-country drive.
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The sale of The Child's and my Los Angeles home of 10 years—and the successful arrival of our belongings in New York.
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The visits of four of my five siblings, three of my in-laws, and six of my nieces and nephews, and our adventures...
* circumnavigating the island on the factoid-rich Circle Line boat tour (did you know that 4/5 of the immigrants at Ellis Island never set foot on Manhattan, instead heading off by train to other states?).
* discovering (in the presence of three minor-age nieces and nephews) that yes, exhibitionists really do take the rooms at the Standard Hotel that overlook The High Line.
* eating pizza at Grimaldi's after walking the Brooklyn Bridge.
* falling back in time at the Museum of the City of New York.
* eating at Cafe Lalo with the You've Got Mail devotees in my family.
* paying respects to the Museum of Natural History—even if we only got as far as the lobby.
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A sunny April morning with arctic temperatures at the tippy-tip of Cape Cod, where My Beloved and I got married.
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Squiring The Child away from the disaster college. I asked if there was anything she'd miss about it. "Well, there was a tree that was great for climbing," she said.
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Watching the plants grow lush among the boardwalks on the Hudson River as we entered summer.
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Thick, humid July days and sultry August nights. Do I dare to eat a peach? I did.
A final September trek to New England to gather The Child's now-mildewed belongings from storage—just before she started her new job in the fiction department at Barnes & Noble.
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A 10-day October visit to California, where we celebrated my miraculous mother's 85th birthday.
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(My mother and her mother, taken sometime in the late 1940s or early '50s.)
My first chance to vote in a New York election. (But really, did you have to take away the cool voting lever thingies just when I got here?)
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The spectacle of a New York City autumn...
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...and the quiet ferocity of a New York City blizzard. My first. Not my last.
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It's been a great ride. And, hey, thanks for introducing me to 2011! I think we're going to get along.
* Title taken from Katharine Hepburn as Eula Goodnight in Rooster Cogburn.