Happy New Year from South Boston

Happy New Year everyone!

Once again, it was great to be in New York City and join the 1 million folks in Time’s Square for the traditional New Year’s countdown. At Mayor Bloomberg’s invitation, I was privileged to pull the switch that dropped more than 3.5 million tons of confetti on the crowd—a new world’s record. Just where do you locate 3.5 million tons of confetti Marcos, you ask? That’s a great question. Unfortunately, the answer will have to wait for another day.
Following the festivities, I walked the short few blocks to Penn Station and caught the 3:15 red eye train to Boston. I love that train. It’s quiet, and gives me a 4 ½ hour snooze that’s much cheaper than a night in a Manhattan hotel. I love arriving in Boston at dawn. The skyline is beautiful in the pink-orange haze. It's small compared to other world class cities. But, it's always home.

Then, it was on to my old stomping grounds, South Boston, which was recently put on the map by several blockbuster movies, including Mystic River. Also, Good Will Hunting, which was written by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, and featured them as well as Robin Williams. OK—right here I have to take the blame for any small breakdowns in any of these 3 “Southie” dialects. They were nothing but professional. It was a learning process for me as I worked with them. Maybe a little too much Italian in my tongue still?

When I arrived in “Southie”, I hooked up with three of my childhood friends, and got reunited with my pet monkey Fez. We enjoyed a leisurely orange cranberry scone and washed down with a creamy macchiato at a cozy family-owned coffee shop that I practically grew up in. In fact, it really was the inspiration for Benetti’s Coffee Experience. Along with Ben and Sarah’s contagious passion, of course.

So, then it was off to the L Street Bathhouse, home of the L Street Brownies. Legend has it that this is the 2nd oldest cold water swim club in the US, with members taking a dip in the Dorchester Bay every day of the year, rain or shine, since 1902. On New Year’s Day, the event turns into a quaint Homecoming experience, with several hundred in attendance. I am more than happy to participate whenever the opportunity presents itself.

Rumor even has it that John F Kennedy participated as a teenager more than once. Although, it’s not clear whether it was with or without his family’s blessing. Fortunately for us today it was a balmy 48 degrees Fahrenheit. Here is a picture of me and my 3 friends doing our best Uncle Sam impersonations. Can you pick me out?

It has been known to be in sub-zero temperatures for this annual ritual. Some of the club members in their nineties insist that in the year 1918, it was an arctic 30 degrees below zero, and supposedly they had to borrow an axe from the Fire Station to break through the ice on the Bay and get to the water. They say they were only in the water for 10 seconds, but they didn’t just poke their toes in—they dove in head first! I think that’s highly unlikely. Anyhoo, we were only in the water for 10 minutes this year. I wasn’t disappointed when we agreed to get back to shore and warm up. You can learn more about the L Street Brownies here.

I am looking forward to a wonderful 2007. So, I am sharing my prayer for 2007 for each of you, my dear friends, which is attributed to St. Francis of Assisi:

Lord, make us instruments of your peace: where there is hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy.

O divine Master, grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen