Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Signs of the Times

Mike's Pastry
Hanover Street
Boston
December 24, 2008

Annual rituals die hard. This afternoon, hours to Christmas Eve, I walked to Mike's Pastry on Hanover Street in the North End to pick up a dozen cannolis, assorted. It's what I have brought back to Christmas dinner in Connecticut for many years. I leave in less than an hour to drive south to meet up with my parents.

There is an art to buying at Mike's pastry the day before Christmas and Thanksgiving. You need to feel the crowd and the lines, and look for a "soft spot" where the attendant-to-customer ratio is the highest. And if you are at all interested in the last sentence, then you know I tend to spend a lot of time in line a Mike's, allowing me to think of concepts such as an attendant-to-customer ratio. Success was had, however.

In the conversations leading up to the holidays this year, I was somewhat confused talking to my friends about going "home." To me, home is Boston, but to many of them, "home" is the house they grew up in. I call that location "home home," but not many of my friends understand the semantics.

To all out there reading this, I wish you a very safe, healthy and happy holiday break. Merry Christmas!

2 comments:

Me said...

That's funny. I do the same thing. I grew up in Germany and moved to the US 11 years ago for college and such....even my father gets confused, because when I am in Germany I mean Boston when I say I am going "home"....but I also use the "home home" for my friends here in the US.

Merry Christmas!

Rhea said...

I've never been to the North End on Xmas, even though I used to work at the Old North Church. I think I might go wandering around there tomorrow.