Posts Tagged ‘holiday music’
Out Holidaying
Last night was a festive dinner and a [somewhat] holiday-ish concert at the Dakota in Minneapolis with our friends, the Wilkuses. Singer/songwriters Karla Bonoff and Livingston Taylor performed a mix of their solo pieces with duets and a handful of Christmas songs.
It is such a treat to hop in the car and find ourselves transported from the rural countryside to the downtown streets of the big city within an hour.
Tall buildings!
Highlights include the delicious deviled egg bite followed by a chicken sandwich and fries. Food and flavors that matched my desires perfectly on this occasion.
I was greatly entertained by one of Livingston’s songs where his lyrics sort of break a fourth wall if that can be applied here. I’d never before heard his song, “Railroad Bill” in which the main character, Bill, gets into an argument with the songwriter, Livingston.
Karla performed each of the songs that I wanted to hear in addition to her renditions of the holiday tunes and duets with Livingston, frequently backed by the very effective guitar artistry of Sean McCue.
The one thing missing that I truly enjoy in live concert performances is a blending of voices and spot-on harmonies, to put it in as gentle a way as I can think to say.
Despite that minor gripe, the show and audience contributed to a pleasant dose of holiday cheer. Getting in and out of downtown was a breeze, for which I, as the driver, was very pleased. It didn’t hurt that the weather was unseasonably gorgeous with temperatures well above average.
It felt more like October than December, which made it only a little bit weird to be reveling in the season of having ourselves a merry little Christmas now.
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Knowing Better
I do know better, but that doesn’t guarantee success. It is a struggle to resist the dreary weight of “shoulds” and myriad other potential hazards that lurk in the mind of a person with propensities like mine. (See Dysthymia.)
Luckily, knowing better is a very important early step toward optimal health. One of the best things that ever happened for me was having my affliction identified, and then being taught skills for responding to it.
With our new home and property, there are so many things we want to address, it is a challenge to make any sense of it. I feel a bit like I’m in a losing game of “Whac-a-Mole” (a game which, ironically, is based on a situation we are literally needing to deal with here).
I find myself able to chip away at one project until it gets dark, or I run out of time, or I arrive at a problem without immediate solution. Then a new day brings new demands and the previous project lands on the back burner. Who knows when I will get back to that one. Something new will pop up tomorrow!
Now, the Christmas season is near, and a whole new set of make-work projects show up. It troubles me to see the energy that could be put toward our “to-do” list, now going toward decorating this place like it is some sort of holiday show room. Look at that: I’ve become a Scrooge.
I know better than to focus on the dreary perspective. Most people would think the house looks beautiful, and it makes Cyndie so very happy.
Plus, it gives the cats something new to wreck! Oops. See, there I go again. Darn that doom and gloom.
I actually heard a holiday song on the radio yesterday during my drive home that sounded great and made me happy. The reason it sounded great was because it was fresh. I had not heard this song for almost a year. Unfortunately, it is not even December yet. By the time I hear this song again for the 3rd or 4th time, I will be sick of it.
We think the holidays are so fun, it is logical to extend the season as much as possible. Of course, the marketers are all in for that idea, and do everything they can to elongate the duration of a gift-shopping season. In so doing, we have created our own monster. It wasn’t good enough to leave the Christmas season the way it was in years past. It has been stretched into something annoying. You’d think it was a political campaign. What a shame it is that we allow our favorite holiday songs to become annoyances.
They used to be special, because they were heard rarely, for a precious occasion. Over-playing songs diminishes the pleasure of them.
You’d think we would know better.
Relative Something 