Christmas Wishes

Every family has its own unique holiday traditions. My mother used to read Kate Douglas Wiggin’s The Bird’s Christmas Carol to us every year. On Christmas Eve we always opened one present, which we knew would be pajamas to wear as we waited for Santa to come. I carried on the pajama tradition with my own family, though my husband and sons always objected. It’s not that they didn’t like opening a present early. Maybe wearing something new and soft and pretty on Christmas morning is a girl thing. I did read The Bird’s Christmas Carol to them one year. The boys didn’t like that one much, either. But they did like Dicken's A Christmas Carol, Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas, ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, Robinson's The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, Van Allsburg's The Polar Express, and a host of Christmas picture books by Tomie dePaola. Do you have a favorite book to read at Christmas?

Maine Woods

Every year I ponder the question of Christmas trees. I like a cut tree, if only for the aroma. It’s not the poor ecological decision you might think. Christmas tree farming is a relatively green industry (no pun intended) and many communities offer drop-off points for spent trees to be converted into garden mulch when the season’s over. The problem with cut trees is they don’t last long. After a week or so they’re dropping needles everywhere and looking like so much kindling. I’ve looked into living trees, but they’re not cheap. Even after paying for and faithfully nurturing one (not a simple matter), it’ll likely be a dead tree come spring. So I’m back to artificial trees. I’ve read they have a life expectancy of six to ten years. The boxes they come in last one or two. The tree we just erected is well over twenty, and it looks pretty pathetic. It may be time to look for a new one…after Christmas.

Spin the Top Again

I’ve been rereading Dickens, specifically the chapter of A Christmas Carol describing Fezziwig’s party: “In came a fiddler with a music-book, and went up to the lofty desk and made an orchestra of it, and tuned like fifty stomach-aches. But the great effect of the evening came when the fiddler struck up “Sir Roger de Coverley.” Then old Fezziwig stood out to dance with Mrs. Fezziwig. Top couple too; with a good stiff piece of work cut out for them; three or four and twenty pair of partners. But if they had been twice as many: ah, four times: old Fezziwig would have been a match for them, and so would Mrs. Fezziwig. A positive light appeared to issue from Fezziwig's calves. They shone in every part of the dance like moons.” It made me wonder if partying was a lost art form. Can you imagine this event being any fun without live music or dancing?

Quack

A few feet from our house there is a large duck pond. All year it’s home to a handful of ducks and geese. But for several weeks in the springtime and again in the fall, it’s a stopping place for hundreds, perhaps thousands of migrating Canada geese. They show up in groups of a dozen or more around sunset, flying in V formation. They circle the pond once or twice and come in for a graceful landing on the water. Sometimes they stay a single night and leave at daybreak. Occasionally they’re there for a day or two, resting and catching a bite to eat before they take off again. I love to listen to their steady crescendo as they work up their courage for another day’s flight. I’ve read that they’re quicker to leave the frigid north in autumn than they are to head back in the spring. I can certainly relate.

Little Red Schoolhouse

I can't remember a time when I wanted to become anything other than a teacher. I had wonderful teachers when I was in school, and I always hoped someday I'd be just like them. I have enjoyed working in classrooms, but I've found private piano instruction so much more rewarding. It’s thrilling to share a love of music with one young mind at a time; to watch that “aha” reaction when a new concept suddenly sinks in; to witness the miracle that happens when another student learns to express himself with music. When I took in my first piano students, my own children were very young. The income from my lessons helped to pay for instruments and tuition for them. Now that they’re grown, we teach together in the same studio: piano, violin, viola, cello, bass and guitar. You can find us at our website: http://bowemusicstudio.com.

Christmas Revisited

There are dozens of movie adaptations of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Here are my favorites:

Disney’s A Christmas Carol (2009) Jim Carrey plays practically all the roles.

A Christmas Carol (1999) I never tire of Patrick Stewart’s razor-sharp articulation.

The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) There aren’t many actors who can hold their own against Kermit and Gonzo, but Michael Caine does a bang-up job.

Scrooged (1988) Buddy Hackett is the silliest Scrooge you're ever likely to see.

A Christmas Carol (1984) An unlikely choice for the role, George C. Scott is somehow perfect as Scrooge.

Mickey’s Christmas Carol (1984) My daughter's favorite, hands down. She watches it throughout the year.

Scrooge (1970) There are other musical versions, but this and the Muppet Christmas Carol are the only ones worth listening to.

Mister Magoo’s Christmas Carol (1962) This was the first made-for-TV animated holiday special.

Scrooge (1951) The Alistair Sim version is (mostly) true to the original text.

A Christmas Carol (1938) Reginald Owen is wonderful, but his supporting cast is even better.