Miracle on 34th Street

Just as New York has its "Miracle on 34th Street," so does Baltimore. Our miracle is one block, both sides of the street, of beautifully decorated houses for Christmas. One of the home owners told me, "This is our gift to the City of Baltimore." And what a gift it is. Before going into the house, I talked with a gentleman who also was impressed with the dedicationof the neighborhood and it was he who called this the "Miracle on 34th Street. He was waiting outside while his family was inside. I had an opportunity to have a few words with them also and I walked away glorifying God for allowing me to see such wonders created by man.

If you're in the Baltimore area, you must see this block before they dismantle it. Many of the people have special displays in their living room and they open them up to the whole world. One man found scrap metal in the Harbor, lakes, streams, etc., and made a man with it. He has also done many other things with scraps that we discard. He also has a hub cap Christmas tree and other trees decorated with what we would consider to be junk.

Most of the inside pictures were taken without flash simply because the flash on my Canon Rebel refused to work. I did not use the Nikon because the battery was low. Well, what would one expect? I charged it before the visit of Bishop Mercurius on 17 December 2006 and I have not charged it since then. Meanwhile I photographed a hierarchal Divine Liturgy, company's Christmas party, Christmas dinner, two services, another Christmas party, and the lights. During this same time, I charged the batteries for the Canon at least three times. The batteries in the flash were all freshly charged batteries. I do plan to purchase a second battery for the Nikon.

Also, everybody with whom I spoke was extremely friendly. It was almost as if we all were brothers and sisters. Of course, we are all brothers and sisters in Christ, but we usually don't act that way.

The block is located just off Falls Road. If you are driving on Falls Road, turn East and it is about one block away. If you do not have a car, take the #27 bus, which comes approximately once every 30 or 40 minutes. The M1 bus might also service the area. I think that the Light Rail is too far away.

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