Carols

 November 14, 2021

The first snowfall of the season brings with it…drum roll, please…Christmas carols in the Bailey household. No matter that Advent is a full two weeks away, or that this white carpet is sure to melt away in a few days; Christmas carols are playing. Linda is not eclectic in her musical choices. Her favorite is a CD of piano carols which I will likely hear until January or I hurl it discus-like into the creek, whichever comes first.

I must admit my complicity. Linda had been wondering out loud about whether or not she could fit a tree in the Millstone room, which is long and narrow. Conventional wisdom said no, but I am a shmuck when it comes to her, so when she and her friend Kelly were on a shopping jaunt two weeks ago, I broke down and bought her a tree for our bedroom and had it set up and plugged in when they got home that night. Eyes bright, she clapped her hands with the ecstatic joy of a five year old. I just smiled.

The grandkids each have their own roles in preparing for Christmas here in our house. I do my best to hold off until at least after Thanksgiving, but with our eldest Alex being in NYC for her work, Linda brought the Bethlehem village up from the basement, so Al could do her part setting it up. 

Liturgical purists will blanche at the thought of such caldendrical blasphemy, but when the stores start playing Christmas music, we run the risk of coming across as cranky old Scrooges instead of defenders of the faith. There are more important crosses to die on. 

So, here I am, listening to carols (News flash! She changed CDs!). We even stooped to a Hallmark Christmas special on TV that was so cheesy I snoozed through most of it. The Christmas season has many redeeming features in spite of our culture’s reducing it to oozy-woosy feelings and trite cliches, but Hallmark specials may be beyond the pale of redemption. Even so, I am glad for this first snow. It is greeted with a wonder and joy that will certainly have disappeared by March. And if nothing else, it is an occasion to read the old story once more, and marvel at the amazing grace shown to us in the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.