I passed this interesting installation walking down Metropolitan Ave. in Williamsburg Brooklyn. I think it would be amazing if everyone grabbed a tree and added it to the installation to make a whole hanging forest. It’s in a particularly ugly empty space under the highway, which could use some beautification.

This past weekend we dropped our tree off at our local park to be chipped. It was encouraging to see how many trees were being dropped off by neighbors. The sanitation department had guys driving around in trucks picking up trees left on the sidewalks. We have a big cart that we use to haul our photo gear, which was perfect to cart our tree away. We were even able to add 2 more big trees and one Charlie Brown tree to the pile. My selfish goal was to take away the trees near our building so I wouldn’t have to see them. Did I mention how much abandoned trees bum me out?? I wish the city had a big enough budget to collect the trees. Maybe next year I will dedicate a day to carting trees.

Today we went to the Guggenheim to see the Maurizio Cattelan show. The show was interesting and I think it’s worth seeing. But it is the subway ride home that I’m writing about. We were riding home and there was a very conservative young woman wearing a pea coat and scarf. And that seemed to be it. Her legs were completely bare and we kind of subtly craned our peripheral vision (this is a very New York maneuver) to see if she had anything on under her coat. It turns out she had bright pink panties. Our first thought was that she was a dancer and was just clueless to the look she was presenting to the public. We were kind of snickering to ourselves saying things like, “I know I forgot something. Let’s see…I have my purse, keys, phone…what could it be? Oh yes, my PANTS!”

Then another young woman came onto our subway car with no pants on. We were openly smiling at this point and the woman next to Neil said that it was No Pants day today. We had to get off our train to switch trains and in the 14th Street station we saw about 8 more men and women walking around without their pants. It brought surprise and smiles to everyone around them.

It’s organized by Improv Everywhere. They describes themselves as a New York City-based prank collective that cause scenes of chaos and joy in public places. You should definitely take a peek at some of their videos on their site. I particularly love the shirtless men shopping in Abercrombie and Fitch and the frozen Grand Central. You can subscribe to be alerted of their upcoming missions.

Oh yes, and I have a total New Yorker for a daughter. She was sitting reading on the train when I pointed out the first pantsless woman. She looked up at her, agreed that she had no pants on, smiled, and just went back to reading. It takes a whole lot more than that to surprise her I guess.

It’s that time of year again! The time where the streets are littered with old Christmas trees. I find this unutterably depressing. Something that caused so much joy and wonder is just tossed out with the garbage. But, I’m not asking you to mulch your tree to keep me from getting gloomy, there are plenty of more pressing ecological reasons why you should do it. Take some time to search your community to see what kind of programs there are for old Christmas trees.

In NYC we have mulchfest Jan. 7 & 8th. You can click on this link to see which parks near you are accepting trees. We have a cart that we use to bring our tree, and we try and pick up as many other trees we find on our way.

Many areas come up with creative uses for old trees such as New Orleans using them to restore coastlines and The Pacific Northwest Christmas tree association using them in lakes for aquatic habitat projects. You can read a NY Times article on the subject here. Rose over at OnThePondFarm feeds hers to her goats.

Hoping everyone’s holidays are filled with joy, happiness and a little magic.

I was doing so well getting ready for the holidays. I started knitting things a month ago. I even started shopping weeks ago. Smugness was starting to set in. And then something happened this week. I realized that I hadn’t factored a couple of things into my schedule. Namely, the time it would take shipping the presents, baking cookies, and my knitting time spent socializing instead. I am now officially behind. I am in the midst of baking cookies and scrambling to finish a couple of knitted gifts. Smugness has been replaced by mild frenzy.

Since Razzy laid her first egg, we’ve been on egg watch for Edie’s first egg. She was running back and forth between the large run and the nest box this morning, which is a sure sign of something brewing. It must be very strange to feel like something is about to pop out of you. She has  no parents to give her “the talk” after all. We put a golf ball in the nest box to give the new girls an idea of where the eggs should go. Edie didn’t take the hint.

Our two newest chickens have been on the point of lay for some time. Razzamatazz (Razzy) especially has been showing signs of maturing. Her comb has turned a deep red and her legs have become a brighter yellow. In addition to that, when you pet her back she squats down, which is another sign of being mature. The squat is the submissive mating stance if you must know.

Our first generation of chickens laid their first egg on Ground Hog’s Day. I was hoping for a Thanksgiving egg this time. Razzy waited until we got back from our Berkshire Thanksgiving to lay her egg. So yesterday, while we were outside raking leaves and reading the paper in the 63 degree weather, Razzy started announcing she was ready to lay. She was extremely vocal as she paced between the run and the nest box. After a couple of hours, she produced a beautiful, small, pinkish brown egg.