Here We Come A-Caroling...

Among the leaves so green!
Here we come a-wandering,
So fair to be seen!

One thing I really like about Christmas is the music. When I was still teaching I would get Christmas CDs and as soon as Thanksgiving vacation was over I started playing them in class. I had every kind, mostly the cheap ones you can get at WalMart and Target and the like. There were a few ‘quality’ ones and then there were even some mixes that were good. Western Auto used to (and maybe they still do, I don’t really know), have a Christmas CD mix every year. It was cheap, like $5.00, so I had many years.

At first the kids would gripe. The ‘cool’ kids especially were irritated. I didn’t cave in. By the end of the first week I would catch them singing or humming along. I’d never let on that I’d caught them but it always made me smile. Some would whistle under their breath without even knowing they were doing it. At that time of year we were usually deep into a final project so it wasn’t a disruption. Soon they were asking for specific CDs to be played. Occasionally I’d hear a song or a whistle in the hall. I wonder now if any of them remember.

I like the traditional carols because I can sing along. I like some of the new or specialty songs that have come out even though I don’t know the words. I don’t really care for some of the improvision that has come about with some of the songs. It especially irritates me for a classic Christmas song to have some new, funky timing or to have a lot of oh-oh-oh-oh’s thrown in where they don’t belong. I was talking to my friend Carlos and he called it vocal gymnastics. He knows a lot about music and studied it in college. He also sang in some pretty impressive local groups. He said it’s a lot harder to hold a pure tone for a long time then to add all of the warbling. That makes me think that maybe some of the newer singers aren’t all that good and they use the warbling to cover up what they can’t do. But I suppose I should just keep quiet since I can’t sing at all!

Have you ever watched people sing Christmas carols? It’s kind of funny. Most everyone knows the first verse. Some know parts of the second but some don’t know any of it. Throw in a third verse and everyone is either mouthing “watermelon” or humming! When the words aren’t known people either make something up or sing what they think they hear. I can sing “Feliz Navidad” along with Jose Feliciano. But after the third “Feliz Navidad”, it says “prospero ano ici ici da.” At least that’s what my mouth says. It blends in well enough but it’s not right.

Someone asked me the other day what my favorite Christmas song is. That’s hard because I like many. So I posted the question on Facebook, just to see what others thought. I’m really fond of “Hard Candy Christmas”, but lots of people wouldn’t even count that as a Christmas song. I tried to think of all my favorites. Between me and my Facebook friends, I came up with a list, but the titles are a little confusing. Can you figure out if your song is there?

 

• Enquiry Of Mutual Auditory Perception
• Personification Fabricated of Compressed Mounds of Minute Crystals
• Altitudinous Celestials Acclaim
• Bantam-Male Percussionist
• Nocturnal Noiselessness
• Array The Corridor
• May The Deity Bestow An Absence Of Fatigue To Mild Male Humans
• Query Regarding Identity Of Descendant
• Give Attention To The Melodious Celestial Beings
• Covert Observation Of Matriarch's Scandalous Osculation
• The Quadruped With The Vermillion Proboscis
• Commencement Of Yuletide Complexion
• Far Off In A Feeder
• Red Man En Route To Borough
• Planetary Jubilance
• Sprightly Venerable Benefactor

Did you find your favorite in my list? Sing it loud!

Love and joy come to you,
And to you glad Christmas too!

It’s getting towards the end of the 9th month of knitayear. I can’t believe I’m still doing it. I know a lot of people who started but gave up. They either got busy or maybe just bored. But I’m going to stick it out. It’s a challenge! And, I like it! It’s interesting to check back and see what I was thinking when I picked a certain color or yarn. Some, I remember exactly why it was the one I chose. Others, I have to look. Day 258, December 14, I’m a bit apprehensive. I have a training today and it could be very uncomfortable, depending on who I have to be around. It’s Cooperative Learning and it’s not that I’m not cooperative. I don’t like touchy/feely things and when it’s with someone I’m not comfortable around it’s torture. In fact, the more I thought about it the closer I came to opting out. But I didn’t and I ended up with a good team. I can’t say I played completely fair on some of the ‘random’ grouping we were required to do. I can dodge fairly well! I chose some red fuzzy yarn. It’s from my novelty yarn days. It’s good in Christmas scarves though! And it seemed to fit. Day 259, December 15, is the second day of the training. Today I was eager to get there. I had the same group as yesterday to start with so it started good then when we changed I ended up with another good group. We had fun with our activities and laughed so much I was afraid the trainer was going to come stand by us. Discipline by proximity! But she never did. It was a great workshop and I wish I’d had the opportunity while I was still in the classroom. But there are still a lot of things that I can use with what I do now. I chose a yarn that is green with a gold thread woven throughout. The gold if the bright spot the teams I was with provided! December 16, day 260 is a finish up day at work. I have some registration things to take care of, some forms to turn in, some arrangements to make and a whole lot of stuff to get up off the floor. I put some boxes on top of the shelf on the desk. All of it went there and it didn’t look as bad or take as long as I thought it would. Maybe, just maybe, when we go back I can clear out the boxes and put the stuff away and not have boxes in the floor! Wishful thinking…we don’t have enough room for the junk we have. Oh well. I was prepared to get it all done and I did. Hooray for me! I chose another novelty yarn, an off white fur with colored bobbles. It reminded me of Christmas ornaments. I’m trying to get in the spirit! The Christmas music will end, soon enough. I’ll miss it. Enjoy your favorites! Feliz Navidad!

And God bless you and send you, A Happy New Year,
And God send you a Happy New Year!