It’s Wednesday afternoon, Christmas Eve.  By the time this posts on Friday morning, it’ll be the day AFTER Christmas and two days before our big family gathering.  As far as I can tell, everything is in order for that, including, hopefully, the weather.

It’s been a lovely week.  Last Sunday Colt and his girlfriend, Elie, came over and cooked us a marvelous anniversary dinner.  We’ll be having the leftovers from that as our Christmas Day dinner tomorrow.

Over the past several days we’ve been watching various Christmas movies on TCM and listening to our collection of Christmas music.  

TV finally made it over the Mule Mountains to Bisbee when Carl Morris, the owner of the local radio station, created one of the first cable TV networks.  Next thing you know, I Love Lucy started coming on the air every Monday night. With nine people in the family, Evie’s old davenport just wasn’t going to cut it, so she went to Whitehead’s Furniture and came home with a massive mauve sectional.  That worked for I Love Lucy and any number of other programs as well.

Our family watched a lot of variety shows back then, and I especially enjoyed the Christmas specials which often featured people like Bing Crosby, Perry Como, and Andy Williams.  So the music in Bill’s and my Christmas collection features the music we both grew up with. Bing is going to have a white Christmas, Perry will be home for Christmas.  Berle Ives is having a Jolly Jolly Holiday for Christmas. Teresa Brewer is busy catching Mommy kissing Santa Claus, and the Lennon Sisters are letting us know that Santa Claus is coming to town. Whenever a version of Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer comes on, Bill and I are able to recall that the guy who wrote those memorable lyrics was one of Bill’s dad’s acquaintances when they both worked at Montgomery Ward in Chicago.

One of my favorite carols of all time is The Little Drummer Boy.  When I was a librarian on the reservation, someone published a lovely picture book featuring that song.  When it came time for my December of classroom storytelling, I would often sing that song while turning the pages of the book so the kids could see the pictures.  If a school librarian did that these days, I’m pretty sure that, in some places, they’d be run out of town on a rail.

A little while ago Oh, Come All Ye Faithful came on with a choir singing the lyrics in Latin.  Thanks to participating in Bisbee High School’s annual Christmas Vespers program, I was able to sing right along.  I’ll bet a lot of my readers know those words by heart, too, but here’s a little cheat sheet.

Adeste Fideles laeti triumphantes,

Venite, venite, in Bethlehem.

Natum videte, Regem Angelorum;

Venite adoremus,venite adoremus,

Venite adoremus

Dominum!

So Christmas time is a time for Bill and me to use music to sort through our many memories.  With any kind of luck, we’ll spend tomorrow listening Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, and doing that will make all my Christmas wishes come true.

In the meantime, my fondest wish for all my readers is that this is a most wonderful time of the year for you as well.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.