I found that the most effective lights at my place are on the trees at the very front. For years I emphasized the front of the house but this was not as noticeable from several blocks away.
This morning at the restaurant I heard "Jingle Bell Rock" on the radio. I smiled as I remembered a James Lileks column in which he wondered how this song got established as a Christmas classic. He said it grated on him. Silly rabbit, timing means so much in getting a big following for a particular recorded tune. You strike when the iron is hot, when the public's tastes are just right. Luck or serendipity enters in.
We are spoiled beyond words with the music available to us on YouTube today. Seemingly any recorded tune - pick a favorite - can be found there, and it's all free! I'm a boomer who grew up realizing you'd have to pay something like seven bucks for a vinyl record. Does anyone still have sacks that were designed for stores to insert your purchased records? Kids would be fascinated to observe those.
I fondly remember the music of Hall and Oates and I can call up their wonderful Christmas music just on a whim. I'm sure many of us are over feeling the novelty of this experience. It's just the new norm. The science of marketing says scarcity or the perception of scarcity goes a long way to determine value of something. John Denver got dissed toward the end of his run in pop music, because he had allowed himself to become over-exposed. The Beatles were careful not to let this happen. Their appearances on mass appeal TV shows were very limited and strategic.
So, there's no novelty or thrill with finding any old favorite Christmas music, thanks to YouTube. I even found some of the Andy Williams TV Christmas specials from the 1960s. Those shows really push nostalgia for people my age, as do the Bob Hope Christmas specials from Vietnam. You can find the latter on YouTube. Well, what can't you find? We could not have predicted such an endless landscape of entertainment offerings on YouTube, when the thing began.
We adjust to the sea changes of the digital age. I personally think it's important to remember how we all got by in pre-digital times. Just for having a sense of perspective. People my age can be asked: "How on earth did you get by." I was discussing this one morning with friend Brent Waddell and we reasoned the best response is just "we did."
The Andy Williams Christmas specials with their incredible charm have a melancholy feel when one considers that the hellish war in Vietnam was ramping up at the same time. How could such contradictory universes possibly exist? How could we enjoy the uniquely charming Don Knotts movies - a favorite of my late father - during the war escalation times? God created us with disturbing contradictions.
I personally don't listen to Christmas songs at home until December 1. That's tomorrow (Sunday). I'll call up the Hall and Oates stuff and recommend you do likewise. Did you know the Monkees have a Christmas album recorded during contemporary times? It's a delight.
My Thanksgiving was uneventful but this is not a complaint. For sure I beat you in consuming the day's fare - I was at Caribou Coffee at Willie's at 7:15 a.m. to enjoy two bacon egg and cheese bagels w/ coffee. What other restaurant was open? Probably none. So God bless Paul Martin for having this asset available. I consumed no more food the rest of the day.
For most of my life my family gathered with my uncle Howard and his wife Vi of Glenwood for Thanksgiving. We alternated who would host. We got together like this on Christmas Day, New Year's Day and Easter too. All those years and such a habit. All good things do come to an end. My parents and Howard and Vi are in the next life.
I visited Howard and Vi's gravesite at Glenwood Lutheran Cemetery recently. That plot also includes small flatstones for my grandparents Martin and Carrie Williams. Martin and Carrie were a hardy Depression-era couple who ably raised a family of five sons, my father the youngest. All five lived long and rich lives.
Martin died too young of cancer in 1933. My father was a junior in high school. Carrie passed on in 1949, six years before I was born. It will be essential for me to get acquainted in the afterlife. Martin and Carrie persisted in a hardscrabble way and I'm sure it was all they could do to provide for their family.
My humble breakfast at Caribou Coffee cost about $13. My father who grew up in the Depression would have a hard time stomaching that. He was a classic product of the Depression, all the recognizable spots, with how he fixated on prices and wouldn't want to discard anything.
Prices don't feel as painful when you pay with plastic, I guess. My parents never saw any appeal in credit cards. They would say that if you wanted something, pay for it. Would that make them dinosaurs now? Much of that attitude has rubbed off on yours truly. A friend who's in financial services once told me it's a common trait of children of Depression-era parents: the frugality and the worry, the constant worry of running out of money.
For now we all seem to have abundance. So for the next month, simply embrace the Christmas feeling and try to put aside the anguish of being led by such a crude and ignorant president of the United States.
Savor Christmas even if it's with "Jingle Bell Rock."
Addendum: It's Saturday now and a test of our early-winter resilience. Conditions are harsh outside. We are reminded of the "adventure in anti-lock brakes!"
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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