{"id":22344,"date":"2017-04-30T20:58:14","date_gmt":"2017-05-01T00:58:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iaintjustmusic.bobleafe.com\/?p=22344"},"modified":"2024-12-25T00:45:27","modified_gmt":"2024-12-25T05:45:27","slug":"2024-merry-christmas-from-hackensack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iaintjustmusic.bobleafe.com\/?p=22344","title":{"rendered":"2024 – Merry Christmas from Hackensack!"},"content":{"rendered":"

………………………………………….<\/span>(ignore April 30, 2017 publish date – this was published on December 25, 2024)<\/p>\n

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So I\u2019m at my kitchen sink washing the dishes and gazing through the window one night and a house with Christmas decorations that\u2019s 3 or 4 blocks away catches my eye:<\/span><\/p>\n

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(I actually had my tripod in the sink as I shot through the closed window)<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cThat must look great up close\u201d, I thought, so off I went. The house is across the street from a Dunkin\u2019 Donuts (Passaic St, for all you locals):<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

It\u2019s interesting, but I think I like my kitchen view better\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026plus, it\u2019s a lot warmer.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I\u2019ve never before seen this bespectacled Santa with a candy-apple red paint job atop a business on Sussex St. If you look closely, it appears that he\u2019s about to throw me off the roof (he wouldn\u2019t dare\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026):<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He DID dare!<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Fortunately, it was only one floor down. Unfortunately, I fell face-first onto the sidewalk.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Two years ago, I photographed a camel and other animals right next door at the Second Reformed Church\u2019s outdoor Nativity scene (https:\/\/iaintjustmusic.bobleafe.com\/?p=17527<\/a>).<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Afterward, I was under the impression that they were NEVER going to do that again! I\u2019ve forgotten why I thought that, but guess what\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

December 22, 2024:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Same camel? \u201cNo! That was Elliott – this is Marvin\u201d, I was told (such Egyptian-sounding names).<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Marvin\u2019s ready for his closeup (BTW – that\u2019s my building in the background):<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Marv brought along some of his friends (click the second one to enlarge):<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\" \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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Later, there was a small procession that went one block down to Passaic St and back.<\/span><\/p>\n

Once again, I made sure to photograph the camel as he walked by my building:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

After that, it was time for all the kings and Wise Men and little angels (and their parents), shepherds and other animal handlers to head home (Pastor Dwayne Jackson – the Wise Man in orange – is seen high-fiving a little shepherd).<\/span><\/p>\n

Click TWICE to fully enlarge:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I wonder if they\u2019ll do this again next year\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The next night, I made my last pre-Christmas stop at The Green, down by the Bergen County Courthouse. This is where Hackensack\u2019s Christmas display happens.<\/span><\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t make it to the lighting ceremony this year, but I gotta shoot the lights!<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Enjoy!<\/span><\/p>\n

Click to enlarge:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> \"\" \"\" \"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Click twice to fully enlarge:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And a very<\/span> Merry Christmas to each and every one of you!<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

………………………………………….(ignore April 30, 2017 publish date – this was published on December 25, 2024)   So I\u2019m at my kitchen sink washing the dishes and gazing through the window one night and a house with Christmas decorations that\u2019s 3 or 4 blocks away catches my eye: (I actually had my tripod in the sink as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iaintjustmusic.bobleafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iaintjustmusic.bobleafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iaintjustmusic.bobleafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iaintjustmusic.bobleafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iaintjustmusic.bobleafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22344"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/iaintjustmusic.bobleafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22344\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22371,"href":"https:\/\/iaintjustmusic.bobleafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22344\/revisions\/22371"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iaintjustmusic.bobleafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iaintjustmusic.bobleafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iaintjustmusic.bobleafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}