It’s almost Christmas, and I am listening to my old Christmas cassettes. What memories they bring. (Emily dug these out of my closet when she was here yesterday. Maurine copied a lot of these, years ago, from my old LPs. The sound quality isn’t as good as the CDs, but the memories are there anyway.) When I heard the Barbara Streisand one, I could almost hear Vern say,”Oh, play a different one.” He didn’t like Streisand, so I haven’t heard that one all the way through very many times! But the Robert Goulet tape is so nice. I guess I should look for a CD of his songs. I think he is dead now. Anybody know for sure? (Well, I Googled him and found out that he died in Oct 2007 while waiting for a lung transplant.) He had a great voice that I really enjoyed. One of my Bing Crosby cassettes, "that Christmas Feeling", has a picture taken in Sun Valley on the front. The LP had the picture, and I was able to find a commercially-made cassette that also had it. I love the Tab Choir recording of "White Christmas". Glen & Jackie gave the LP to us for Christmas years and years ago,(at least 40 years) and it became a favorite right away. The title is still listed on the Tab Choir website, but the recording is no longer available. I wish they would re-master it for re-release. I played my Fred Waring cassette today, too. I have so many really old tapes. So I am listening to the old music and watching the finches and juncos at the bird feeder. We have about 5 inches of snow. It will be a white Christmas for us.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Christmastime
I think I have found an advantage to being old. Now I have time to enjoy the music, the lights, and the spirit of Christmas. When you don’t have meals to prepare, a job to go to, or anyone to care for but yourself, you have all the time you need. When I was younger and teaching, December always seemed to be a mad dash through the days and nights. There were college finals to prepare and the results to correct and record, before Fall Quarter at Dixie was closed, usually about the 10th. Then the focus turned to home, and all the decorations to put up, inside and out, and special parties to arrange and attend. I always did my Christmas gifts in August & September, before the Fall Quarter began, so they were already done. I had a special December Party calendar on my desk at school, with all the parties on it, and I celebrated when there weren’t two scheduled for the same night!
It’s funny, but I still get that urge to get my Christmas gifts going in August! I had thought that I would make more of my gifts after I retired, but that hasn’t happened. It takes longer to do the little things, and the incentive isn’t as strong, either. If it isn’t done before 2 or 3 in the afternoon, it isn’t going to get done that day. It is so much easier to sit in the big chair and just let the day pour over you!
I have a large collection of Christmas music – both in the old cassettes and the new CDs. I gave away my LPs when we moved, but I had most of my favorites copied onto cassettes. Some of them are pretty old (from the 40s & 50s), but I still enjoy hearing them. But they are only about 15 – 20 minutes of music each, and the CDs play for an hour. The radio was a good source for Christmas music, but they also had commercials. Now I can hear commercial-free music from the TV, and I often play it for a background when I am reading from my collection of Christmas books. (Yes, I have time to read some of those books now!)
So take heart, you young folks, there will come a time when you can do all the things you want to do during the holidays. Well, there will be time for it, but you may not feel like doing it, if your health isn’t top notch. I think Brother Wirthlin had the right idea when he said that we should take what comes, and love it!
Merry Christmas to all.
It’s funny, but I still get that urge to get my Christmas gifts going in August! I had thought that I would make more of my gifts after I retired, but that hasn’t happened. It takes longer to do the little things, and the incentive isn’t as strong, either. If it isn’t done before 2 or 3 in the afternoon, it isn’t going to get done that day. It is so much easier to sit in the big chair and just let the day pour over you!
I have a large collection of Christmas music – both in the old cassettes and the new CDs. I gave away my LPs when we moved, but I had most of my favorites copied onto cassettes. Some of them are pretty old (from the 40s & 50s), but I still enjoy hearing them. But they are only about 15 – 20 minutes of music each, and the CDs play for an hour. The radio was a good source for Christmas music, but they also had commercials. Now I can hear commercial-free music from the TV, and I often play it for a background when I am reading from my collection of Christmas books. (Yes, I have time to read some of those books now!)
So take heart, you young folks, there will come a time when you can do all the things you want to do during the holidays. Well, there will be time for it, but you may not feel like doing it, if your health isn’t top notch. I think Brother Wirthlin had the right idea when he said that we should take what comes, and love it!
Merry Christmas to all.
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