Kristen Jock, Licensed Associate R.E. Broker at Compass

Meowy Christmas Eve 😻

5 years ago today. So much has changed, but not our love of dressing up or our sisterhood.

Stripping back layers of time

One of the first architectural elements constructed in Prospect Park more than 150 years ago, the Endale Arch was envisioned by park creators Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux as a transporting entrance from the urban hubbub of Grand Army Plaza to the pastoral tranquility of the mile-long Long Meadow.

Restoration of the arch was recently completed. Scroll to see the arch circa 1860s in its prime.

I have a dirty, little secret to admit.

For 🎄 I opt for a real one. If you know me, then you're probably as shocked as my step dad was, that I wanted to go to a farm and cut down a perfectly, healthy tree this year.

My only excuse is that 🎄 are so nostalgic for me at the holidays! I love the smell and decor of a decorated, real tree. And it's like an environmental cheat day.

Well, after cutting down the tree and getting it 🏠, the guilt set in, and I started doing some research on how environmentally poor my decision really was.

Did you know that spruce trees can easily live to 200 years? In the mountains of western Sweden, scientists have found a Norway spruce, nicknamed Old Tjikko, which by reproducing through layering, has reached an age of 9,550 years and is claimed to be the world's oldest known living tree!

Did I just end the life of a young Tijikko?? 🤯

This was certainly a turning point for my nostalgic love of real, dead 🎄. With a little more research, I discovered there can be the best of both worlds, a nostalgic and greener one! Next year, I will opt for a living, real 🎄. They come in a pot, and when the season is finished you can donate or replant them in your very own yard, beautifying and enriching the neighborhood for all!

What kind of tree do you opt for? Dead, living or fake, and why?

In memory of young Tijikko, who will continue on as mulch to enrich the soil come January!

Happy birthday Ma, Hu, small lady

I didn't know it was possible, but I miss you even more. When something good happens, or funny or sad, I want to tell you!

This poem says it perfectly...

Your friend is one who answers to your needs:

the field you sow with love, and reap with thanks;

you seek him for your peace, to hear his heart;

and when he's silent - still his heart you hear:

because, with words or not, you share his joy;

in presence or in absence he is there;

and stronger love may in his absence show:

the beauty of a love that asks for naught.

So tell your friend of all that ebbs and flows,

your best and worst of what fate deals to you:

no thought too great nor light for open minds

who share their pleasures, and their laughter too.

For in the dew of sweet and passing thoughts

each morning's fresh, for close and constant hearts.

-Kahlil Gibran

Be more like the Joshua Tree. My new mantra.

Adaptable. Resilient. Hospitable. Generous. A good neighbor.