Deck THe Halls With Non-Christmas Carols

As a music teacher, well, a retired music teacher to be accurate, I am a huge fan of all types of music. Please don’t ask my views on hip hop and related genres. I will just put out there that little of that style could be construed as music. Call me old-fashioned or just plain old if you wish.

Holiday music is my groove! As a teacher, I’ve rehearsed and conducted 30 Christmas concerts featuring instrumental and choral performances. I’ve also been involved in 20 or so elementary Christmas programs. Most people would get tired of hearing holiday tunes every fall as rehearsals for winter concerts begin. Not me!

One element of Christmas music that I have pondered in recent years is the sheer number of holiday tunes that do not mention Christmas at all. Baby Jesus, wise men and Santa are conspicuous by their absence. Most of these outliers are simply winter songs. Why these wonderful melodies and catchy lyrics are relegated only to the Christmas season is a puzzler. However, if you were to sing some of these in February, I guarantee that someone will ask you why in the world are you singing Christmas songs two months after the fact.

Here is my short list of non-Christmas songs heard only at Christmas:

*Good King Wenceslas – This one takes place on St. Stephen’s Day, which is the day after Christmas. The good king’s generosity and saintly ability to melt snow with his feet make this a yuletide classic. That would be a handy skill to have, and would save a lot on rock salt, too. By the way, yuletide is not really related to Christmas, either.

*Deck The Halls – Since this is a yuletide song, it really isn’t a Christmas carol. Yuletide was a big old party that lasted as long as the yule log did. That’s why they always chose the biggest piece of wood they could drag into the house. The party could go on for days.

*Jing-a-Ling, Jing-a-Ling – a sleighing song. Look this one up if you have never heard it before – it is a lot of fun.

*Jingle Bells – written for Thanksgiving, it is a sleighride tune with some romance thrown in.

*Auld Lang Syne – New Years favorite based on a Robert Burns poem. It is sort of pigeon-holed to a single night. Bummer.

*Frosty the Snowman – no Christmas here – just a snowman coming to life and frolicking with children. This concept sounds a little creepy when you think about it.

*I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm – December is mentioned, but other than that, this is a tune about bad winter weather.

*Let It Snow – must be remnants from the previous song on the list.

*Baby It’s Cold Outside – Same idea, but clearly a different goal in mind.

*Suzy Snowflake – More winter weather, but this time it talks. She must be why Frosty talks and comes to life. Does that make Suzy Snowflake Frosty’s mother?

*The Holly and the Ivy – Another song related to yuletide. Decking the halls with boughs of holly and ivy. Wait – where have I heard that before?

*Winter Wonderland – As with most non-Christmas winter songs, romance and fun in the freezing, snowy weather is the theme. Obviously, these are young people because most older people aren’t crazy about cold weather. That is why there are so many seniors in Florida and Arizona.

*Sleigh Ride – The Leroy Anderson classic, and a personal favorite. The title sums it up perfectly. This winter song even include dessert.

I’m know there are others, but you get the picture. Perhaps you would like to belt out one of the songs from this list in the middle of Walmart sometime in February? I dare ya! I double-dog dare ya!

 

 

Christmas Lights

 

            “Oh that we could always see such spirit through the year.” 

                                                                            -   Lee Mendelson

 

Without exception, I enjoy Christmas time, and always have. Some of my fondest memories are of the holiday season. The lights and music lift my spirits every single year. The same is true in this 2020 global pandemic. The lights still shine, and music still sounds sweet!

We have an artificial tree that we purchased at Lowes a few years back. It is 6-1/2’ tall, which is perfect for us. The LED lights have eight or nine effects and color patterns, from white to multi-colored flashing. The best part is that we bought it on sale, and by opening a Lowes charge account, we got a bigger discount. It was the only time we used that Lowes card, but we ended up getting the tree for less than $30. Quite a bargain in our estimation.

I sometime refer to our Christmas tree as the “curse bush,” since our three cats bedevil the ornaments and lights, which results in some cursing. Most of this is from me, but the wife gets in on the action sometimes. One cat likes to stand up inside the center of the tree and swat at ornaments, though so far this year she hasn’t done so. The tree has only been up for six days, so the season is young. I am not holding out much hope.

Since the weather was nice the weekend before Thanksgiving, and I was getting a little antsy, I decided to put up some outdoor Christmas decorations. This was something I used to do every year, but haven’t done in four or five years. We usually just put some battery-operated candles in the windows. Hey, I’m retired. I don’t need a lot of aggravation – beyond the curse bush, that is. With our COVID precautions and the cancellation of a lot of our usual holiday activities, outdoor Christmas lights were a go! The window candles were also given the green light, as usual.

I went with “old school” stuff outside. We have a pair of Noel blow mold candles that are attached to the porch railings. We have a lighted nativity set that I zip tie to a plywood sheet that I painted white. The plywood sheet is secured to the ground with a dog yard stake. With all the wind we get up here, that keeps everything here instead of a neighboring farm field!

We strung a set of C9 lights around the porch railing, and strung a few sets of miniature lights in the shrubbery in front of the house. We have a lot of stuff that I didn’t put out, such as our blow mold Christmas tree and angel. I also have a couple of sets of animated candy canes, a set of large lit yard ornaments and a set of oversize yard Christmas light bulbs, and a huge animated snowflake. I wanted to spread a little Christmas cheer down here at the end of our dead-end street, but still make it fairly easy to take down again in January. Things that are zip-tied are easily to tear down. Stakes frozen in the ground, not so easy to remove!

When I was a kid, we didn’t usually have outdoor Christmas lights. In fact, I can only remember one time. Dad had stapled pine boughs around the door, and then secured a set of C9 lights to that. He finished with a star that he has made out of sheet metal and wired with C9 bulbs. They looked great, but he didn’t get around to taking them down until well into January. I guess that is why he didn’t put outdoor lights up very often.

I hope your Christmas lights shine bright, your hearts are filled with happiness, and that you spend some quality time with those you love – practicing social distancing, wearing face coverings and frequently washing your hands, of course!