StanleyWheeler

Are there Christmas songs you hate? -- My answer is at the end.

There are a lot of Christmas songs. Most of them are great. Nevertheless, many are the opposite of great. Most Christmas songs are eggnog and cookies, candy canes and Christmas trees, angels and hallelujas. Others are gray, gritty snow and cold sores; frozen pipes and an ice-ball in the face. I just watched Christmas with the Tabernacle Choir featuring Kristin Chenoweth. It was very nice. I could have listened for another hour. I also heard some great music at the service this morning. I remember other music I had heard in previous weeks. Some of the choirs, small groups, and solos I've heard have not been so great. I suppose that mix of talent and quality of performance is a good metaphor for life. Our efforts are sometimes excellent; at other times they don't live up to our hopes. I have to admire those who perform and fall short of excellence. They are out trying. Maybe they'll get better with time and experience. Some will never get better; they'll never reach excellence, yet they continue to strive. (I hope they're striving, and not merely showing up for performances to inflict pain on my eardrums). They're the souls in the arena.

In my own arena, I continue to write, churning out books that few will ever read. Maybe they will make a difference for someone who does read them. If someone smiles, laughs, catches of vision of the world in one of my stories that lets them escape the daily grind for a time and forget their troubles, think about some deeper meaning, or simply enjoy a story, I'll count that as a success. However, as satisfying as that is, I would not resist a boatload of royalty payments sailing my way. Unfortunately, if no one reads and thinks to leave a review, I'll never know how much they enjoyed my work--and that boatload of royalty payments will never dock in my bank account.

***

One reason I didn't get much writing done this week was because of daughters. It was a 3 daughter week. I had to go visit a couple of my daughters and sons-in-law for a few days and couldn't do any writing. It was a small price to pay for the trip. One daughter and son-in-law graduated from college and set sail for Arkansas the very next day. They've arrived in that land of opportunity. They're worried that they won't fit in because they're not cousins. (My sincerest apologies to the people of Arkansas for that joke. It was uncalled for and cannot even redeemed by being original. It's an old joke. I would like to promise that I won't make such jokes in the future--but I know myself too well for that). While one daughter and son-in-law were graduating and embarking for the wonder state, another daughter and son-in-law continued the struggle, looking forward to the day when they too can don the black moo-moo and mortar board hat, and step up to the launchpad and rocket to a new place with promising careers. The other daughter involved came with us. She got to spend quality time (which is code for shopping and playing games) with the sister with whom she shared a room and everything else for so many years. Now she's alone at home with grumpy, old mature parents who possess all the excitement of a discarded work boot--or so it seems from her perspective. What that really means is that she benefits from parents who have already successfully raised several other children to adulthood. What incredible wisdom, knowledge, and experience they must possess! Could she possibly be any luckier? I'm sure her answer would vary from mine.

We had a great time with all three daughters and both sons-in-law. The latter are fine gentlemen who are great matches for the two daughters. While the last daughter is only 16, she did have an unexpected encounter with a male individual during the trip. The graduation ceremonies concluded so late that most of the restaurants in town were closed. That left fast food as our only option. We adjourned to a Swedish diner famous for the image of the red-haired girl with the swooping braids. At one point, a young man of college age stopped at our table and asked if we were here for the graduation. Then he looked at the 16 year-old and said, "You're the cutest girl I've seen. I've been all over campus and never seen a girl as cute as you." --or words pretty close to that. My daughter responded, as did we all, with awkward silence. He likewise replied with a witty, mute, awkward repartee before hurrying out the door. At least that daughter gained an interesting story from the trip.

For the record, I killed at Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune. I was much better at those than at the shopping activities. The bonus was the 28 mm cowboy figures one son-in-law printed on his 3d printer for me. Naturally, there's a lot more to tell, but I'm amazed anyone has read this far, so I won't add anything else about the trip. I won't go on about the songs we listened to on the way home and the memories they brought to the surface, or the minor car issue, or the premature departure and the call back, or the moving movie we watched, or the old friends encountered, or the... There's too much to include here, other than that it was great.

***

As for my answer to the Christmas songs I hate. Yes, I do have some, but it's simply not in my nature to dwell on the negative. (Maybe someday I'll be able to make that statement and believe it to be true. For now, I'm still working on that attitude). I would still love to here your responses.