In addition to internally-lit vinyl snowmen ballooning on front porches and yards all around town and the mail people delivering pieces of mail actually addressed by hand, for me a sign that the Christmas season is upon us is that I am driving about with a timpani in the back of my Forester. Timpani–those gorgeous sounding and looking large kettle drums– the rhythmic soul of an orchestra. I’m a violinist, not a timpanist, but I play with the Reading Philharmonic Orchestra, a group of volunteer musicians who give free concerts. We have no budget for instrument or equipment transportation. People just chip in. When we have concerts, someone drives the crates of music about, someone brings the sound equipment, and if someone has a vehicle resembling an SUV, then she must drive one of the timpani. Our timpanist is in his 90s and no longer able to carry them himself. They are ordinarily stored where we rehearse, but those spaces are not accessible except at rehearsal time. So now that we are in concert mode, playing at malls and churches, I carry this drum with me everywhere I go. It’s been my December routine for the last few years. And, oh the places we go–to get a Christmas tree–tree on top, drum inside. Shopping–gifts snuggled in around it. Picture it parked in lots from hither to yon. It bounces over back roads, and every once in a while I hear a resounding bong from the back, protesting a turn too quickly taken. Actually I’m a much more careful and considerate driver with a timpani in tow–“precious cargo”, as my mother-in-law always said when I was driving my little ones around–and that big kettle kind of cuts down on rear visibility, so I challenge no one for that spot in the right lane.
It is covered in a quilt so as not to distract gawkers or tempt those criminally-inclined who will do anything to obtain recyclable copper. We’re a pair for these weeks–me up front singing along to my Christmas CDs, the drum in the back lending a resonance.
19 days and counting. A votre sante, Jane…et tous nos femmes…et tout le monde.
Ellen
Cold
Hello kids. Jane is going to be less than her usual verbose self this week, as she is feeling a bit under the weather. Yes, it seems unthinkable that the bastion of inner strength that is I, could ever be taken down by a simple cold. But there it is, sitting on me like a wet blanket on a lovely party.
Speaking of lovely parties, a little bird tells me something wonderful is in the offing, but the big bird of authority hasn’t yet sent notice of this rumor’s veracity, so you all will have to content yourselves with that little teaser.
I just cracked myself up, that is exactly what I used to call dear friend Jackson: “Little Teaser”! Oh dear Lord, laughing with this chest full of distasteful gunk is not a pleasant experience; a paradox, that, well not really a paradox, more of an irony, but not that either…well never mind. My mind is awhirl with médicaments contre le rhume, cold medicine, but it sounds so much more intriguing en Français. And I’m particularly adept at the phlegmy “rh” sound just at this moment; I wish you all could hear it!
But perhaps not.
I’m babbling, I believe. Blame the meds, darlings! I’m as woozy as a musician with a paycheck.
I should go…Have a lovely week. Think healing thoughts for me, and for yourselves; we need all our fortitude during this last, desperate run-up to the holidays. “Seigneur nous donne la force“, as they say on the Champs Élysée!
…Here’s hoping my head is not floating several feet o’er my body when next we meet.
Love, Jane
Getting an early start on things!
Good morning everyone! For once, I decided to get blogging bright and early instead of waiting for my reminder! Ha! It’s a lazy (for now) Thursday morning and I’m at my friends house, puppy sitting. It’s so quiet here, very unlike my own home, where my upstairs neighbor and his huge dog march around all day, every day. I should enjoy it while I can, because today is the last day that I’ll be here. It’s always fun to be here, but I’m definitely looking forward to being home with my own little fur baby. I miss him so much when I go away!
Today is a big day. It’s the last Sound of Music rehearsal before opening night. It’s been a lot of fun watching the show come together over the past few months. I think it’s come along nicely! If you’re looking for something to do this weekend and next, consider coming to see The Sound of Music at Genesius Theatre. It’ll be a fun time and the Von Trapp kids are seriously adorable! 🙂
Time for me to finish my laundry and start making some Genesius medals for the show. I hope everyone has an amazing day and I also hope to see lots of familiar faces at the show this weekend. Support local theatre!!!
One child every day…
My nextdoor neighbors have done the most amazingly whimsical decorating for Christmas. Over 20 “blowups,” lots of lighted figures, lights on trees and on the house -it’s beyond “too much.” It’s absolutely magical! Definitely got my Christmas psyche moving. But I am sidelined by thoughts of the local poverty. Sorry. This isn’t going to be an uplifting blog because my thoughts just keep going back to things I’ve been reading and hearing. Jason Brudereck’s series of articles in the Reading paper that compared the poverty in Reading with that of Flint, Michigan – well written and very thought-provoking. Recently I read a statistic that I’ve read before – 1 in 4 children in this country go to bed hungry every night!!!! That’s beyond my comprehension. One of my grad students who is also an assistant football coach at Reading High School tells me that after football practice they give the players supper – because many of them won’t get supper when they get home. Some of the players are young fathers and have to babysit their young children after school. Unless they can get babysitters, they bring the children along to practice – and supper is also given to the players’ children. “We know we’re saving these kids, but we never know whether or not they’ll make it through another week at school, or if their lives will become so complicated that they’ll be out on the streets,” said my student.
In one of Jason Brudereck’s columns he mentioned that people in Flint didn’t think that the arts, colleges, and upscale restaurants that came into the city were helping the poor very much. That also got me to thinking. I love the Reading Symphony concerts we subscribe to. I love eating at Judy’s on Cherry, at the Peanut Bar, at Dan’s. I love going to the Goggle Works and seeing a film in the wonderful little theater, or visiting the artists’ studios. I love going to the Miller Center for all sorts of great performances – there’s a jazz concert this Sunday I’m definitely looking forward to. But within half a block of all those places are hungry children, people who can’t afford to enjoy the performances or food I come to the city to enjoy, and I’m not sure what my patronage of the restuarants and the arts is doing for those children. We suburbanites come into the city for great food and entertainment – then we leave. (Some suburbanites have told me the never come into the city because it’s too dangerous! I’m never very polite in responding to those remarks.) The gentrification has made some sections of Reading truly lovely, but it’s also driven the poor from those areas without improving their lives.
I’m feeling a serious need to think of some ways to help the poor – especially the children – in Reading. It’s an overwhelming problem, and one person … can I make a difference? When Mother Teresa was asked how she thoughy she could help the poor in India because there were so many, many more than she could ever help, she said, “I help one at a time.” I guess that’s what I need to think about. One at a time. A way to help to feed one child….I invite each of my wonderful women who blog to help me find a way to make a difference. And to forgive me for not spreading the Joy of Christmas in this blog, as was my original intent when I started to dig out the decorations on Sunday.
One child at a time! One child every day until Christmas – and one child every day thereafter -I’m going to try to find a way to do that. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated – and I’ll keep you posted about my success.
26 Days ’til Christmas–and not all are shopping days!?!
Yes, shopping can become an obsession at this time of year, but I, for one, was not standing in line on Thanksgiving night. Just not my thing to out there rubbing elbows and other body parts at the large package stores, grappling for deals. I’m still in the waiting-for-inspirations stage of shopping…and hints from my giftees.
Thanksgivng night to me is for enjoying the chemical aftermath of the scrumptious turkey dinner (and I didn’t have to mix, knead, and roast as Jane chose to do–wow, that was a hard holiday lesson learned, nor did I have the thankful feeling of a meal lovingly prepared and shared as Martha did) and chatting with a son we see not often enough until we had outlasted the last football game.
To me it is still too early to decorate. It has to at least be December before I pull out the boxes and boxes of stuff and to go out and gather some greens and begin adorning every mantle, banister, doorway, windowsill. The process is almost a rite, and I want to save it to savor it.
So what part of Christmas do I begin, with 26 days to go? Ah, the music. Begin you ask! Yes, the music has been everywhere in the stores and restaurants since that first snowflake a month ago. But I can tune that out–a skill perfected while our three children went through their various stages of awful noises they referred to as music.
Christmas music is the soul of the holiday in my mind and experience. I’ve been a part of Christmas concerts from junior choir days to college choir days. And now I have the great joy of performing with the Reading Philharmonic Orchestra as a johnny-come-lately second violinist. We have two concerts for which we are preparing; you can stroll by and listen when we play at the Fairgrounds Square Mall on Dec. 9, or sit and enjoy when we play at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Fleetwood on Dec. 16. Check our website for more details.
But the music that is the most personal is that which is in our vast collection of CDs (oh, that does date us, n’est-ce pas? But this is a time of traditions.) I have a system whereby I choose 5 a week for in the house and others for the car. I play them over and over and then go on to the next set for the next week. Four weeks, at least 28 different CDs. And I am always sorry when I put them away. There are favorites, like Jessye Norman’s “Christmastide”, Marilyn Horne’s “O Holy Night”, the Three Tenors, and the Irish Tenors, and Yo-Yo Ma’s “Songs of Joy & Peace”–well, they’re all favorites!
But year after year the one I anticipate the most is Harry Belafonte’s “Christmas”. It touches many sweet spots. What a grand man. How I hope that his new autobiography just might behind my name on some gifter’s list!
May you all be blessed with some sweet harmonies this season.
Ellen
Lesson Learned
Is it Monday? Already? Where have I been?
I’ll tell you where: Asleep. Asleep for three days. Well, not asleep for the entirety of these last three days, but much, much of them. “How is that possible,” you ask, and you would be right for asking.
As it turns out, all you have to do is make the mistake of not having turkey for Thanksgiving! I know, it is a sacrilege… But yes, I was taken for Thanksgiving dinner by some lovely friends. At a lovely restaurant, but not so lovely that I’ll name it.
It turns out that at this particular establishment, one can order things other than the holy bird. Who knew this was possible? Not I. And so I thought to myself, “Jane, you are in a holiday rut; you need to shake things up!” And so I did. Throwing caution to the wind, I ordered the prime rib! And it was delicious.
But it was not turkey.
And on the ride home, (my dear friends had graciously driven so that their dear Jane did not have to drive after dark) I began to feel that I had betrayed this most American of holidays. And I began to have a guilty hankering, or yen, well, really, a strong desire, urging, no, need, to make things right.
And so, after they had dropped me off at my little abode, waving bye-bye to the boys until they were ’round the corner; I hopped, perhaps “hopped” is a misnomer for what I did, but let me have my few delusions, into my darling Citroën 2CV, and off to the grocery store I went!
Once home, arms laden with the makings of holiday amends, I got to work. I mixed, I kneaded, I baked, and roasted! By 6 am the following morning my feast was complete, and I, well, I was a complete mess! But I felt so very redeemed.
After a short nap, I dug hungrily, and thankfully, into my after-holiday repas.
And there, my dears, is where the trouble began.
I ate, fell into a tryptophan haze, woke, ate some more, fell back into my tryp-snooze..woke, ate, snoozed. And there it was, from Friday until just moments ago: wake, eat, tryp, wake, eat, tryp, wake, eat…and on.
And here it is, Monday; the turkey, and all the fixin’s are gone. Yes, in the last three days I’ve eaten an entire 24 pound turkey and its corresponding side dishes! I’ve been a fiend, alternately eating, then sleeping. I’ve wasted an entire weekend in a chemically, and gluttony, induced semi-wasteland. But now, I’m awake. It is a new day. I am a new woman.
And I’ve learned never, never, to eat steak on Thanksgiving.
I hope you all had a safe, happy, and love-filled holiday!
Love, Jane
Happy Black Friday!!
The day has arrived!! I’ve been waiting patiently all year. Time for me to get my shopping on! unfortunatley I work third shift so I wont get as early of a start as I would like, but I did have my wonderful and strikingly handsome boyfriend Brandon in line for me at Target at 4 pm thanksgiving evening! He was fourth in line we are hoping to get the 46 inch flat screen tv for 298.00 its a steal and if you ask me worth sitting in line until the doors open at mindnight. Most believe this to be sheer madness..however its a 200.00 savings for the tv which we really do need….time for that 52 inch projector tv thats yellowed and fuzzy and to hit the road!! Best Buy had the 42 inch for 200.00 which is also a great deal but they had people in tents outside there store since 11pm wednesday night we drove by on our way to target and the line was around the building and they only had 50 tvs to sell we never would have gotten one. We are practically garunteed this one at target with Brandon being 4th in line. I just hope everyone acts like normal human beings and no one gets crazy and angry over a stupid piece of merchandise!! But for me..today when im done work at 9:30 am..( gotta love the 11 pm to 9:30 am shift )i will make my final car payment and hit the stores and hopefully still be able to snag some good deals…wish me luck..Christmas is upon us. Cannot wait to put the tree up this weekend!!
**stars and kisses**
Christina
Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy turkey day everyone! I just got back from Lancaster and I am so full! All day long, I’ve been thinking about all the things that I’m thankful for. Friends, family, Rizzo, etc… and then I realized that I’m ALWAYS thankful for all those things. I’m incredibly lucky to have all the people that are in my life. I hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday! Happy Thanksgiving! 🙂
Blessings Abound! Like really!
It’s almost time for me to start cooking. I love this day! After the shopping and “putting away” is completed – not my most favorite jobs – I honestly love Thanksgiving and cooking the dinner. I’ve cooked just about the same menu in Pennsylvania, Texas (Dallas, Midland, and Austin), Colorado, Wyoming, California, and four times in Bologna, Italy. (Turkeys were much smaller there and came complete with heads and feet.) I’ve introduced my mother’s Berks County potato filling to people in all those places, mostly resulting in new fans of PA Dutch cooking! My stuffing recipe is more Italian, and a “newcomer” to the menu I started to create almost fifty years ago. Actually, the stuffing’s my favorite – mushrooms, chestnuts, Italian sausage – yum! Pumpkin pie, green beans, dried corn supreme, and on and on. This year it’s just Barry and me. I’ll scale down the amounts I cook, but he loves my Thanksgiving cooking, and that makes all the work almost fun!
But the day’s about mindfully counting our blessings. I’ve accumulated so many that I couldn’t begin to list them all. My children and my grandson – the biggest blessings of my life – what I’m most proud of – what I love more than my soul could ever express given even infinite time to do so. Barry – ! Wow! What he’s done to make me believe in love and in myself! I am so grateful for our love and commitment to each other – stronger than ever after almost 35 years. Friends – true friends – old and new. Jamie – you’re making this all possible. Jane, Ellen, Christina, Sheila – thank you! Thank you! Thank you! And my Albright students – all of them – and the ones I gave an opportunity to leave class early yesterday afternoon since it was their last class before the holidays. None took advantage of my offer – they chose to stay and chat until the class had officially passed it’s end, and I had to send them out! I think so often how lucky I am to be here…now! I’m thankful for so many things – large and small – I am SO happy I’m living the age of indoor plumbing, central heating, dishwashers…and that I can afford those things. Just the luck of the draw that I’m not starving in Somalia! Wow! Blessings abound. Happy Thanksgiving to one and all who may read this. Hey! I’ve a new blessing – the blog! Wow! Who knew?! Time to cook those giblets!
Marathon Men and Women
As Santa arrived from the North Pole in Reading last Saturday, 27,000 runners from all over the world were arriving in Philadelphia for the annual marathon run the next day. I’m not a runner…not even a trotter…steady walker might be the best I can muster. But Margaret, our daughter-in-law, is a runner and this was her first time at the Philly 26+miler, and our first time to watch her. Perfect day for whatever one would choose to do outside, and the city looked autumnally festive. What “fun” these people have. All nationalities, all ages, speeds, sizes, and shapes. Some wore tutus, one ran as a Roman centurian in toga and sandals, one as Uncle Sam, many bearing flags, one as a can of Spam. They made it look so easy as they floated across the finish line. And yet I know from Margaret’s experiences that she trains dilligently year-round, at 4:30 AM, for this opportunity to improve on her previous times. And that is exactly the point. For only a few of those 27,000 is it about winning a race. For everyone else it is about giving their best effort and realizing what they can achieve. The other 100,000 of us (and hundreds of well-behaved dogs) there to watch, saluted that. Margaret improved her personal time by 7 minutes, finishing the course in 4 hours, 46 minutes, 23 seconds, and was euphoric. Congratulations all around.
And so it was such a jolt while driving home later in the day to learn that two of the marathoners died during the race. We know no more, but we can only hope that they, too, were having a wonderful day and were on the mark to achieve their best.
Thanksgiving, this American holiday, provides a grand opportunity to reflect. Thank you, Jane, for your thankful thoughts. Good health and good will to all mankind; a cornucopia to my lady-kind friends.
Ellen