Tis the Season....

‘Tis The Season For Music and Food

I think my favorite things about Xmas, the season are seeing the lights and hearing the music. When I was a kid, music was a big and very important part of the Holidays (with a capital H, baby!) Because my mother and father were very musical and Mom played the piano, the house was filled with music. They had a Christmas party and Santa (yes, you read that correctly) came to our house and handed out presents to all the kids present (no pun intended!)

Thanksgiving was all (and still is) about the food. The. Food. (Insert choral: “Aaaahhh!”) The Art Of The Perfect Turkey. Stuffing with fruit in it. It could be cranberries, apples, raisins…chestnuts….wait, that is a nut, right? Whipped or mashed potatoes. Heaven In White, right there, kids! This year, even though we go out of town for Turkey Day, I would still like to make The Dinner. (I hate the turkey we normally get. Sigh…)

Back to X Time! I love the lights and maybe that’s because Mom would put a little tinsel Christmas tree with lights in each of our rooms when we were kids. That is magical! Every year since 2000, we’ve driven out to look at folks’ decorations. We rate them. Are they “just lights?” Is a “Mini-display?” It is a “Proto-Display?” Or is it a Full-tilt Boogie DISPLAY? It’s very fun, free (except the gas of course) and I’m impressed at the creativity. Bah-humbug to all the Energy Scrooges out there. Get LED lights and shut the hell up!

Even more or on an equal footing with lights and display, I love the music. I start loading up on it in late November. To date, I think I have well over 1600 holiday songs. God, how I love MP3 players!! All different styles too. I love hearing new songs, old songs because I might get a new twist on an old one or learn a new one that I just adore. Two to check out (if you haven’t heard them) are “All Those Christmas Cliches” (sung by Nancy LaMott) and “Christmas Can’t Be Very Far Away,” (sung by Amy Grant).