If there’s a shortage of any kind of stuff these days, there seems to be a dire scarcity of compassion, tolerance,  . . .  So it doesn’t matter what you believe or don’t believe, I’m sure we have common ground in thinking we need

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peace on Earth and goodwill towards everyone, especially this year.  That’s what I see in these decorations and hear in the music.

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From here in NY’s sixth boro on bows and

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sterns.

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From the south,

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the middle,

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and the north . . .

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and from this card someone sent me . . . have a happy day.  And a calm and boring day;  let

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me explain.  Click on the image below to hear a song by Capt. Josh Horton that probably captures the sentiments of crews at sea today.

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Here was 2014, and here was 2013.  Also, two years ago it thrilled me to share photos I received from the good folks at Hughes Marine to get photos from 1997 —here –of the year the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree came downriver by tug and barge.  And more good folks at Cross Sound Ferry sent along photos from 2003, here, when their ferry North Star delivered the tree that year . . . crewed in part by Rockettes!

If you’ve got time today for the background on how NORAD started reporting on Santa movements back at the height (or depth) of the Cold War in 1955, click here.  Here’s another version of the same Cold War story.

Thanks to Brendan Matton for the photo of Paul Andrew, Tali Padilla for the photo of Z-One lit up at the San Juan dock, Lisa Kolibabek of Cape Cod and Bonnie Halda for Jupiter both on the Delaware River, and Mike Magnant for the be-snowmanned Toot Toot.  Barrel sent me the photo of the red clad beard guy on the green 29. I took the photos at South Street Seaport Museum.

Finally, if you want to squelch the “red elf” mythology, check out the name of this 1963-built bulker AND its status.