I have a confession to make. Today as I was making my usual Saturday morning drive to downtown Denver for a weekly meeting, I went channel surfing on Sirius. That is nothing egregious, however, my eye was caught by “Holiday Traditions” and I went for the bait. Mind you, I am the guy who goes on my personal rants when I go to Sam’s and I see Christmas trees, lights, etc., in early October. My rule has been: no Christmas music until after Thanksgiving.
I am not sure what came over me but I thought surely they can’t be playing this yet, so I decided to find out. I was met with Gene Autry singing “Frosty the Snowman”. I could not stop listening. I was saved by a phone call from a friend. However, I left the station tuned to holiday bliss. Getting back to the car after the meeting I headed home. I turned up the radio and there was Nat King Cole singing “Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire”. Perhaps it is because I think Nat has the best voice ever, I felt a loyalty to listen, and 30 minutes later I had heard a medley of songs from Barbara Streisand, Bing Crosby, Karen Carpenter and the Muppets. Had I committed a sin akin to sneaking peeks at presents under the tree?
The truth be known— I enjoyed every minute of it. As my country sits on the precipice of another election, there was something reassuring about the deep emotional connections that are experienced as voices and music from a lifetime, filled my soul. I suspect you know this about me already—I am a sentimental sop. Perhaps the only side trip even I could not take was Alvin and the Chipmunks singing the “Twelve Days of Christmas”. I have my limits.
I am not sure I will revisit this channel for a while. Today was more like getting the big catalog at the Pumphrey house in September. All four kids would peruse the pages where we would put our initials on the dreams and aspirations of “unbridled avarice” ( a reference to “A Christmas Story”—the best Christmas classic ever).
Maybe a deep dive into nostalgia was prompted by the fact that MK sold our Christmas Tree on Facebook Marketplace on Wednesday. We have sent up the decorating white flag. The single mom who bought the tree was thrilled. She wrote us to say that she had been trying for weeks to find a tree but someone always got there first. “On Friday my son and I are going to decorate this tree. We are so excited”. Now again, in my world, she was a month ahead of herself.
The final song I listened to today was “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” done by Judy Garland. Nothing makes me feel closer to my dad Bill, than this song. I could hear his baritone singing along with her, as I looked west to the Flat Irons and Long’s Peak on this most glorious autumn day.
Enjoy November.
Onward and Upward,
Mark
H
Lyfting Me Up 