“In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning… In him was life and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1: 1-2,4)
Merry Christmas to all and to all a Good Night!
‘Twas the week before Christmas and all through the house
No one was ready, least of all my spouse.
Stockings are ready to hang in a few,
But what will go in them, I haven’t a clue.
Hubby’s off on his errands with traffic to battle
In our ’99 Jeep with a muffler rattle.
And I at my keyboard go over my list,
Creating and pondering what items I’ve missed.
Around me, shipping boxes and packing peanuts galore
Give an aura of disaster to the kitchen floor.
Then, lo, in my inbox, what do I see?
It’s a Christmas ham gift from the bosses to me!
O joy–quelle surprise!–how it warms my poor heart
To know that even Scrooge is doing his part
To share the love this Christmas season.
Alas, to be Grinchy, there is no good reason.
I croon Christmas carols and light up the tree,
I do my gift-wrapping with renewed sense of glee.
As hubby battles crowds to shop for his wife,
I smile and think, “It’s a Wonderful Life!”
The halls are decked...
This morning I had the weirdest tune stuck in my head. It was from Psalty’s Christmas Calamity, a record (yes, record!) that we had when the girls were little. The amazingly creative chorus went like this:
Christmas is a time, Christmas is a time, Christmas is a time to love. (repeat)
I don’t remember the words to the verses, but trust me the tune is really lodged in my brain. I can even hear Psalty’s nasal-toned chirpiness and his perky little choristers. (Given the number of times the girls listened to that record, it’s a wonder that the tune has remained dormant in my brain so long.)
Why, oh why, am I being plagued by Psalty? Maybe it has something to do with the little side-trip I took after Julie’s concert Thursday night. Julie’s first teaching position is right around the corner from our first apartment when we got married. After attending her first concert, I couldn’t help but drive by our old apartment. And then I drove by our first house, just a few minutes away. Both places looked so much the same that it put me in a time warp. It was strange to travel through the years and end up home in the log home in the woods.
Christmas is a time for a lot of different things. One of them is nostalgia. Even as we enjoy our traditions and continue to make new ones, pulling out the decorations and listening to the music always brings to mind Christmases past. I often think of my friend Jeanette, gone ten years now this Christmas. We spent many Christmas seasons preparing the family service at church. My Dancing Day CD reminds me of children’s chorus whenever I hear the “Donkey Carol.” My Gerald Finzi CD reminds me of one of my favorite choir concerts. And the music rotation always includes Bryan Rowe’s Advent CD.
A few years ago, when a number of Christmas stockings left our chimney mantle for new family units, I grieved as though Christmas had died. Ok, I got over that. There’s something about our new tradition involving mimosas on Christmas morning that perked me up. And grandchildren.
But I only need so much Christmas perk and Psalty’s melody could very well keep me up all night.
Slightly Off the Grid 