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First of all, Happy New Year to all of you. Second of all, Happier New Year to those of you lucky enough to be in South Florida just now. It should be a joyful celebration indeed. Much of the rest of our nation is enduring pretty crummy outdoor conditions during the holidays. But to my taste, anyway, the weather around here really can’t get any better than this. I’m looking out my office window at cool blue skies dabbed with benign clouds, my window is open to the 80 degree breezes and I’m not aware of any humidity at all. I keep hearing, though, about bitter cold in New York, unseasonable piles of snow in Seattle and plain crazy weather in Chicago, among other inclement spots.

My mom in Chicago, for instance, has been telling me about five inches of snow one day, freezing rain the next day, then about hard rains that melt the snow and cause serious flooding. Sheesh. I almost feel guilty about luxuriating in these balmy tropical surroundings as the New Year dawns. Almost.

But guilt helps no one, of course, so I’ll do my best to press on despite Fort Lauderdale’s gorgeous climate. On New Year’s Eve, it’s a party for me. I’ll be heading to a celebration in a private home that should be loaded with a nice group of interesting, attractive folks. Another tough break, I know. The following few days should involve some fancy dinners and maybe a movie or two. I’m also thinking about going to the Hollywood Beach Balloon Festival, where several hot air balloons will float above the Hollywood beach each day from Friday through Sunday. Admission is free. You can find out details at www.hollywoodbeachballoonfest.com. Whatever I do, I know I’ll wind up outside as much as possible. Honestly, it takes some discipline to make myself sit indoors to write on days like these. Then I remember that I could still be living in Vermont or Michigan or somewhere and I breathe in the fresh Florida air coming through my window. And I think, hey, I’ve got no reason to complain.

No, Owen Wilson doesn’t look anything like John Grogan. Or sound anything like him. Or really behave like him either, based on what I know of John. But somehow the actor caught part of the personality of a colleague I spent time around many years ago. Of course I’m referring to the new flick, Marley & Me, which was based on John’s best-seller. I liked it, though I sat in the theater this weekend watching the film from an unusual perspective. I had worked with John Grogan in the Sun-Sentinel newsroom during a large chunk of his Marley period. We’re Facebook friends today. So that makes him grist for my blog – sorry John, but I know you’ll understand. Just as I know you’ll forgive me for telling folks that Owen Wilson and you have about as much in common physically as Tom Cruise and you. The real writer is a red-haired Irish Catholic who had a full red beard when he worked at the newspaper and spoke without Wilson’s Texas twang.

Yet as I watched more and more of the film, I found myself recognizing some of John. That was the odd thing. Though not close newsroom pals, we were friendly colleagues who spoke around the water cooler and at parties and sometimes at Happy Hours. Both Michiganders who’d attended smaller colleges in that state, we soon discovered some common ground. I genuinely liked him and I think he liked me. To my mind, John was a good reporter who also was a good guy. That’s the part the movie seemed to get right.

Newsroom scenes – hmmm, not so much. No one who ever worked at the Sun-Sentinel would recognize much of the atmosphere or conversation at the onscreen newspaper. Doubling his pay? Taking a paid month off? Uh, I can’t recall any editor ever saying something like that. To anybody. Believe me, word would have gotten around if it had happened. But the film does show the beauty of South Florida. The beaches, the sunshine, the outdoor restaurants and all those gorgeous bodies. Marley & Me definitely got that right. So right, actually, that this website even has a special promotion for a "Marley & Me doggy vacay," something you can learn about on the www.sunny.org home page. The movie really shows why the Fort Lauderdale area is such a popular spot to live and visit. That was refreshing to see on film. And it’s great to enjoy such a hit by a nice colleague I happen to know a bit. Hey, I even commented on a recent Facebook photo of John with Jennifer Aniston’s arms draped around him. Good for you, buddy. Enjoy it. I still may not understand why anyone would want to leave South Florida for Pennsylvania. But having Jennifer Aniston in a movie about your life, well, that part I can understand.

I guess I’ve stalled long enough. My annual Christmas trip to the mall, I mean. I’ve been putting it off, putting it off. Not out of dread. Quite the opposite. I’ve delayed my mall excursion deliberately and with a sense of anticipation. You see, I really enjoy the last-minute holiday shopping experience. To me, it’s just the right moment to really whip myself up into a seasonal frenzy of good cheer and good will toward humanity and all of that. I’m sure some of you must be thinking, “Good cheer? At a major mall only a day or two before Christmas? Are you completely crazy?” Crazy? Quite possibly. Good cheer? Yes, for sure. It’s there to be found, if you’ll really look for it.

Crazy or not, I do find malls thoroughly delightful places at the absolute height of the holiday rush. So I plan to head over to the Galleria Mall in Fort Lauderdale today or tomorrow. Not sure yet which day will work into my schedule better. Either way, it’ll be frenzied and frantic. And fun.

The Galleria happens to be my fave mall in South Florida. Truthfully, I live about as close to another huge mall just over the line in Miami-Dade County. Yuck, they can keep it. I prefer the Galleria, with its high-end stores like Neiman Marcus along with a variety of chain and boutique shops, all spread out among the lovely holiday decorations and the massive Christmas tree and and the kiosks of charity gift-wrappers. The Christmas tunes are echoing through the cavernous hallways and the big sale signs are on the store windows. And boyfriends are getting a little wild-eyed to find something, meaning anything, that the girlfriend might like and mothers are telling their kids that she’s trying to find the bathroom and senior citizens are looking for some place to sit down and escape the mad flow of moving bodies. Then there’s me. I don’t have much left to buy, really. Just enough to give me an excuse to shop. I know, more or less, what I want to get. I’m really in no rush at all. So I can smile at the boyfriends and mothers and seniors. And I can take in the tunes and notice all the sales. And I can think to myself, “Hey it really is Christmas again! That’s a reason for good cheer if ever there was one.”

This has been a delightful holiday season for me so far. Partly because I’ve been to an unusual number of memorable holiday parties. I have attended several great get-togethers already, with a few more to come. And the thing that strikes me about these festive occasions is how they’re enhanced by our South Florida weather. In this part of the world, we can throw our holiday shindigs outdoors if and when we care to do so. Normally the parties tend to be focused on an inside setting, with the food set up on a dining table in a private home or on buffet tables in a restaurant or whatever. But the partiers often gravitate outdoors and the laughing and drinking and general holiday fun spill into the fresh air.

As you can imagine, this really adds something special to those parties. There’s nothing quite like sipping a Christmas cocktail late in the evening while standing under a coconut palm twinkling with red lights. Which is to say, the coconut palm is twinkling with red lights. Not me. I may twinkle now and then during the holidays, especially after that Christmas cocktail. But only rarely do I twinkle red.

Ahem. Holiday silliness aside, I must note that the most recent party I attended was a perfect example of the indoor/outdoor thing I’m talking about here. It was held on Saturday at the lovely Fort Lauderdale house of an actress friend, a talented musical theater type. She also owns an art gallery. As you might imagine, this was a large and artsy crowd. Lots of actors, painters, singers, dancers, models – and at least one writer. It was a blast. The food was indoors and that’s where my girlfriend and I began the evening, standing and chatting and chewing. Not necessarily in that order. But the bar, with a bartender, was outside. So was the hired entertainment, a solo singer who played both keyboards and trumpet. Naturally, it wasn’t long before the other singers did what singers do. One by one, these theatrical folks grabbed the mike and began to perform with the keyboardist. Christmas songs, cabaret tunes, Broadway ballads. All of it outdoors in the lighted garden, in shirtsleeve weather under clear skies. The stars were twinkling, the palm trees were twinkling. By then, I may have even been twinkling a bit too, in my own private way, listening to the music and sharing the holiday cheer. This was one of those wonderful Fort Lauderdale December moments, enjoyed outside, breathing in the holiday season right along with the salt sea air.

If I were living up north somewhere about now, nothing would sound lovelier than to ride around looking at holiday lights – in a convertible car with the top down. No snow, no ice, no cold winds. Just pleasant December temperatures and sparkling displays and tableaux of the season. So that’s just what I plan to do tonight. Put my top down, pick up my friend and head with her over to the Holiday Fantasy of Lights at Tradewinds Park. This is a just-revived annual event and always a big deal around here, the kind of thing that parents share with all their kids packed into the family car. I’ve only been to it once before, several years ago with my father and mother along for the ride. They loved it and so did I.

So this just feels to me like a good time to go again, especially since the Holiday Fantasy of Lights hasn’t happened the past couple years for various reasons. Now that it’s back, I want to share it with someone I care about and also check out what’s new and what looks familiar to me among the lights. Plus, the weather really is just about perfect for doing this. It should be around 68 or so tonight by the time we roll into Tradewinds Park, with no rain and only a light breeze.

So what exactly is the Holiday Fantasy of Lights? Well, it’s basically a park filled with elaborate holiday displays and scenes. And millions of lights, literally. Lights that twinkle and sparkle and glow. And move. There really is action accompanying these lights. All you need is a good camera to capture it all. You’ll also require a separate photog and driver because you have to ride around the park in your car to gawk at these holiday displays, a slow rolling pace that allows plenty of time for snapshots. The Alzheimer’s Family Center and Brandano Displays are the sponsors this year. They should be proud to have brought back this fun South Florida tradition. To take in the Holiday Fantasy of Lights just head over to Tradewinds Park, located at 3600 Sample Road in Coconut Creek. This event is going on every night from 6 to 10 p.m. through January 4. The cost is only $9 per car during the week, $12 on the weekends. And really, do bring your camera – if only to catch some of the children’s smiles you’ll see driving around.

I visited Hong Kong for the first time earlier this year. And I loved it. I’ve also taken Mandarin lessons for a couple semesters and have a general fascination with Eastern cultures. So I was delighted to meet two lovely Chinese women at the big Winterfest Boat Parade on Saturday night – and to learn about their enthusiasm for Fort Lauderdale. They offered me a view of home by way of China. This began when I settled into a spot in downtown Fort Lauderdale along the dock behind Huizenga Plaza to wait for the parade to start. All the waterside activity provided a fun preview of what was to come along with the full moon and cool evening temps. Music was blaring from the boats and a carnival of colors lit up decks and masts on the New River. Then I noticed Yiu Ping and her friend, Yan Yan. They looked charming and, after the parade got moving, I managed to start up a conversation.

We all talked for a long time. They’re both from mainland China near Shanghai. Now they live in Miami as roommates. Yiu Ping is a computer programmer with two masters degrees who works at the University of Miami and Yan Yan is going for her doctorate in molecular biology. These are smart women. They had driven up to Fort Lauderdale to make an evening of it, including dinner and the Seminole Hard Rock Winterfest boat parade.

I soon learned that, though Yan Yan is a new resident, Yiu Ping has lived in South Florida for some time. And that she much prefers Fort Lauderdale to Miami. “There’s a lot to do here in Fort Lauderdale,” she told me. “I come here all the time.” Interesting. Yan Yan agreed with her. Yiu Ping talked about the jazz brunch series on the Riverwalk – she’s attended these Sunday morning sessions and really likes them. She also spoke about music events on Hollywood’s Broadwalk, something she enjoys a lot too. I found her opinions refreshing. It turns out that Yiu Ping once had an apartment near the Fort Lauderdale beach, only moving south to be near her work. But it seemed clear that her affections were attached firmly to Broward and that her friend was starting to feel the same way. Both of these Asian academics were wonderful to chat with and I only left them for a pre-arranged meet-up with a friend. I walked away thinking about what they had told me and felt, “Now there are two women with some taste.” No wonder I find Eastern culture so appealing.

It was better. Last year’s boat parade was the best I’d seen, actually, in large part because of a major change. This annual floating lightfest started downtown on the New River before chugging up the Intracoastal to Pompano Beach. So there were many more opportunities to see these decked-out watercrafts, of course, and that helped spread out the crowds. But more importantly, the chance to sit along the river for the big seasonal parade put viewers right into the action. Or so it felt anyway. Watching from the river bank as the boats floated past seemed like being up close and personal with the people on those boats. I really enjoyed it.

I’m telling you this because the boat parade organizers wisely decided to keep that same route this year. And because the boat parade is happening again this Saturday night, December 13, starting at around 6:30 p.m. All the way from the staging area near the Broward Center for the Performing Arts through the Riverwalk and downtown Las Olas areas, then finally to the Intracoastal for the slow trip north. This means lots and lots of potential viewing spots.

Last year, I caught the show just off Las Olas, down a block from Mangos restaurant at a little park on the New River. I stood there with maybe another 40 or so people, waiting patiently for the boats to slip by. The grand marshal then was Lorraine Bracco, who was just finishing up her run in the Sopranos TV series. She was wonderful with the people, waving and pointing out specific audience members for special greetings. “Hi girls! Don’t you look pretty all in red like that!” That is how close the boats came to the boat watchers, allowing her to interact with individuals. This time around, actor Jim Belushi is the grand marshal and no doubt he’ll offer some amusing comments along the way. Officially called the Seminole Hard Rock Winterfest Boat Parade, this holiday tradition is now in its 37th year. It’s a real family event, with moms and dads and kids and all of that. But it’s fun for everyone else too and makes a great inexpensive Saturday night date. Meaning, it’s free. I plan to be there, waving from the riverside along with the crowd. Some holiday traditions are too good to miss.

I was driving along A1A early Monday morning, listening to a satellite radio blues station. A classic tune called “Stormy Monday” came on and I turned it up. But the title and message of the song couldn’t have been more ironic. It was a gorgeous South Florida morning, full of sunlight, and I wasn’t feeling down at all. Quite the opposite. This good mood probably was enhanced a bit because Tuesday, December 9, is my birthday and I always look forward to that day. I’ve celebrated a lot of birthdays in the Fort Lauderdale area now. All of them have been special to me in one way or another.

So this got me thinking when I stopped for coffee. Really, how great is it to have a birthday in December in South Florida? Pretty great. Lots of people all over the country are enduring their own stormy, cold Mondays now. Stormy Tuesdays through Sundays too. And they’ll keep on having more of these during the next several months. Me? I’m driving beside the Atlantic Ocean with my car’s top down. That alone would be reason to celebrate as my birthday approaches.

This year, a couple friends are throwing a very nice dinner party for me. That’ll be wonderful. In years past, I’ve run the birthday gamut from very private to very public parties. One time there was a large gang of us who met for dinner at Bravo, my favorite Italian spot in Fort Lauderdale. Not too many years ago, I had an even more memorable birthday celebration right here in town. This was during one of those big birthday years – you know, the kind with a zero at the end of your age. Never mind which one. Anyway, my former wife arranged for a beautiful white limo, which drove us for appetizers and cocktails to Jackson’s Steakhouse on Las Olas. We sat in the bar at a small table and sipped Belevedere martinis. Then it was back in our stretched-out ride and off to dinner in a private room at the River House restaurant, where I ordered filet mignon. The evening went on and on, with Sinatra tunes playing on the stereo and champagne flowing in the back seat. Ice cream at Kilwin’s, drinks at Taverna Opa, more drinks and dancing at Cheers. Then finally home about 4 a.m. It was a great birthday and, yes, my ex and I remain good friends. She’s a wonderful person. In any case, all this to say that South Florida really is an ideal kind of place to celebrate my birthday. Having the chance to savor a warm, sun-drenched birthday in December just makes it all the sweeter.

A reality check for my neighbors. And for me. As I write this blog on Thursday afternoon, it is 20 degrees Fahrenheit in Minneapolis. It is 25 in Chicago. Detroit is about the same as Chicago and New York City will see its high temp drop into the 30s by Friday. It’s cold up there. And down here in sunny South Florida, where I’m wearing my turtleneck and sport jacket around town lately? Right now, it’s a very brisk and shivery 76 degrees. But hey, there’s no humidity, right? So, like, that makes it feel colder and all that, doesn’t it? I mean, there must be some reason weathermen are leading newscasts by talking about the chilly air and locals are donning leather jackets that haven’t seen daylight since last winter. We’re not all wusses here, are we?

Yes, we are all wusses. Because 76 degrees is not brisk, not shivery, not chilly – even without humidity. Sorry. Because 76 degrees is a perfect summer afternoon in Portland, Maine and a hot summer evening in Fargo, North Dakota. For all I know, 76 degrees is probably a recordbreaking high for the 4th of July in Fairbanks, Alaska. But 76 degrees is never really chilly. Even in Fort Lauderdale.

The same with all the other “cold” temperatures around here in the past few days. To which my neighbors would say, “But, hey, a couple days ago it got down into the 50s in the middle of the night for a couple hours. That felt really cold, man.” To which I would say, “You’re a wuss. So am I.” How did this happen to me? I used to live in a state where 20 degree below zero temperatures were common in winter. I recall a stretch of two weeks when the thermometers never once climbed above zero. And that was without the wind chill factored in. Now that IS brisk! That’s chilly! But living in a tropical paradise all these years hasn’t just “thinned my blood,” whatever that means. It has turned me into a meteorological wussy-boy. I go down to the beach and see people wearing what people should be wearing on a day like this: bathing suits, shorts, tank tops, flip-flops. These people are called tourists. Those of us who live here are wearing, well, something more than bathing suits, shorts, tank tops and flip-flops. So just on general principle, I may peel off a layer and let the sun shine on me as though it were August. And I really may do that too just to toughen me up a little, I just really might. But I also think I probably will wait until tomorrow – it’s supposed to get a little warmer then.

Have you been down to the beach lately? Well, no, of course you haven’t if you’re shivering in Chicago or Toronto or some place right now. I love the holidays up north but that nippy weather doesn’t sound appealing to me, I must say. On the other hand, a stroll along the Fort Lauderdale beach can put me in a holiday spirit. A different kind of holiday spirit than I felt in all my northern years, yes, but a holiday spirit nonetheless. That’s what struck me the other day as I walked along A1A looking at the decorations. There I was in shirt sleeves, watching people in bathing suits on a sunny beach. Yet I still felt moved by a sense of the season.

It made me smile. I was standing there in the sun and then I looked up at the light pole entwined in green pine garland, festooned with two red bells. I looked down and saw a young woman in a Brazilian thong bouncing toward the ocean. I looked up again, eventually, and noticed holiday lights strung along a restaurant entrance. I looked down again and watched a sunburned guy posing with his friend for a picture on the sand.

That contrast is what the holidays in South Florida are all about. There’s just something amusing to me about stringing up rows of icicles on rooftops when it’s 80 degrees with brilliant sunshine. Amusing – and charming. Or hanging those huge illuminated snowflakes on the lightposts along the street just behind A1A. South Florida is very into holiday decorating, much more so than other places I’ve lived. Those lights and garlands and red bells and snowflakes are our way of reminding ourselves that it’s December, not October or March. We whip ourselves into the spirit with enough holiday lights to line the runways of several major airports. We plug in our Santas and menorahs and whatever else and stand back. And then, yes, we smile, just as I smiled standing along the beach that day. Not a bad way to spend the month of December, when you think about it – smiling at all our funny decorations while standing in shirt sleeves by the sea. If there happens to be an occasional Brazilian bathing suit tossed into the mix too, who am I to complain?

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LauderBlog

Dec 31: Happy, Happy

Dec 30: Marley and Me and Me

Dec 24: Stalling the Malling

Dec 22: Festive, Alfresco

Dec 18: Lights, Action...Camera

Dec 15: A View from China

Dec 8: Near the Passing Parade

Dec 9: Birthday Bashes

Dec 4: CH-CH-CH-CHILLY??

Dec 2: Xmas Beachside