Ordinarily the church Christmas program takes care of my need to voice the season. This year our minister decided that because December 21 (the Sunday closest to Christmas) is also the beginning of Hanukkah, the choir should sing Hanukkah music.
"A minor Jewish holiday," said our alto soloist (who is Jewish.) Her other church job is as a cantor, so she is superbly equipped for this program. We're lucky.
It's all very Unitarian. We're singing some choruses from Handel's "Judas Maccabeus," and various traditional and modern Hanukkah pieces, accompanied by a better than average pickup orchestra. Singing with an orchestra is always a treat.
But it's not Christmas music. At the risk of sounding like an old fogey (oh why not?) I reserve the right to grumble.
Meanwhile, Sparky is purring in my lap, and the Charlie Brown Christmas special is on TV. Yesterday the Sousa Band played for a Christmas festival at a community center, and while we didn't deviate from the usual program of Sousa, Carl ("the march king") King and Henry Fillmore, our Sedentary Majorette handed out bells so the audience could play along with the "Liberty (Jingle) Bell March." It was all very good fun. (Here's a photo from last year's gig.)
Now I'm going to put on "John Denver and the Muppets," and sing along to "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." Nothing like a good grumble to improve one's outlook!
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