A(nother) Good Christmas Song

I usually dislike the song Greensleeves. It could once again be attributed to my 5th Grade piano lessons, but I think it is just a dreary song, period.

However.

I really like Sarah McLachlan's version of What Child is This? It's really fun to turn it up loud in the car and sing along with Sarah:

What Child is This?

Sarah does not sing the melody, for the most part, and that makes belting it out all the more cathartic.

A Good Christmas Song:

I hated this song ever since 5th Grade piano lessons. What a dreary song.

But then, this happened:

Good King Wenceslas

Not only are the words fun to sing, but Mel Torme's scat just invites you to join in!

Good King Wenceslas looked out
On the feast of Stephen
When the snow lay round about
Deep and crisp and even
Brightly shone the moon that night
Though the frost was cruel
When a poor man came in sight
Gath'ring winter fuel.

"Hither, page, and stand by me
If thou know'st it, telling
Yonder peasant, who is he?
Where and what his dwelling?"
"Sire, he lives a good league hence
Underneath the mountain
Right against the forest fence
By Saint Agnes' fountain."

"Bring me flesh and bring me wine
Bring me pine logs hither
Thou and I will see him dine
When we bear them thither."
Page and monarch forth they went
Forth they went together
Through the rude wind's wild lament
And the bitter weather.

"Sire, the night grows darker now
And the wind blows stronger
Fails my heart, I know not how,
I can go no longer."
"Mark my footsteps, my good page
Tread thou in them boldly
Thou shalt find the winter's rage
Freeze thy blood less coldly."

In his master's steps he trod
Where the snow lay dinted
Heat was in the very sod
Which the Saint had printed
Therefore, Christian men, be sure
Wealth or rank possessing
Ye who now will bless the poor
Shall yourselves find blessing.

"Ye who now will bless the poor
Shall yourselves find blessing."

Your Mind's Eye

Imagine the reddest red, from the southwest horizon, stretching clear over to the northwest horizon, and stretching even further across the northern horizon.

Throw across some deepest pink-red. Just above the reddest red. DEEP, HOT PINK-RED.

In the north horizon, swirl the clouds - just once! - to make an imaginary deep pink wave above the DEEP, HOT PINK and the reddest red.

Then take your imaginary brush over the west horizon, and trail a teeny bit of pearly-pink, in 30º angles to the horizon...about six of these.

Turn the heat up on the reddest red now. Make it glow clear up the sky, past the treetops.

Leave the heat on for fifteen minutes or so.

And there you have tonight's sunset: the best I think I have ever enjoyed.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree...

This morning I brought our Christmas tree in out of the 12º temp. and set it up in its stand. It's a pretty tree. If anyone has read past posts regarding past Christmas trees, one understands why I went to the local market last night and purchased a Christmas tree.

Tonight we are awaiting some overnight visitors, and, having a spare 30 minutes, we, that Spouse o' Mine and I, began decorating the tree. Well, I decorated while he accompanied me on guitar. And that was very nice. He did take a 3-minute break to untangle and hand me the "icicles" which already had the little malleable hooks on them. (Three decades ago, those hooks were not at all malleable; I wonder what they are made of now?)

Firstly on our tree, our annual tree-topper, went the remnants of my wedding bouquet, now 26 years old: Lace-entwined Lily of the Valley. Next, three foil-covered stars, each covered in a different-patterned foil, and each of which had five points: the points, of course, are not at all geometrically-symmetrical, just a child's-eye opinion of what a star should look like. After that comes the Christmas Cow (Claire, 2nd grade), an aluminum can reindeer (Graham, who-knows-when?), a glittered popsicle stick star framing 3rd grader Gillian (white-blonde and toothy smile). Lower on the branches of our Christmas tree are the cross-stitch renderings I made of our snowy second year of marriage, in East Lansing, at MSU. Just above it is a cross-stitch ornament from the nuns at Mount Sinai (yes - Moses' old stomping grounds). I got that our FIRST year of wedded bliss, in Egypt. I hung a peacock, a pelican, and a cardinal ornament. Skis, signifying all the years we have adjourned from Big Family Christmas, to hit the slopes and the forests in Big Family Colorado. Two sand dollars from Hilton Head. A paper ornament of Jesus, from a riotous scavenger hunt back in the days of life in Stillwater. On the back, a young, hand-written name: Bryson. We don't know anyone named Bryson from Stillwater. But this ornament brings hilarity in our memories of Christmas Past!

And so it goes. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

December Ramblings...

According to a radio game show I listened to in the car on Saturday, worms know how to use calculus. Huh. The answer had something to do about worms knowing derivatives. Is that a joke? I don't get it. Somebody clue me in. But then, I don't get calculus, either. When I got home, I asked that Spouse o' Mine to explain calculus to me. (In hopes that I would "get" the punchline to the above anecdote.) He proceeded very patiently to explain something about a bike going down the road at 20 mph, y=20x, something about m, and when I tried to ascertain if that meant mass, he first rolled his eyes and then smirked. I don't know what that was about. And there was something about the curve on the y and x axis being the derivative, so I can only assume that this is where the worms come in. Am I right? Help me, you all.

I think it's one of those imponderables. And maybe I'm dumber than worms.

I will say, I am not a statistician any more than I am a calculator, (calculus? calculator? calculatition?), but recently I have heard statistics which say American students (i.e., kids) are woefully behind their academic counterparts in other areas of the world. I hear this, but I am wondering about the validity of the study(ies). Were all the kids in the USA tested? And were all the kids in China tested? Were all the kids in Singapore tested? What about South Korea? Did all the kids take "the test"? Were any kids in any of the populations not permitted to take said test(s)? Are all kids in all countries tested mainstreamed, so that all mentally/physically/emotionally handicapped students in all countries tested? Or do any countries "opt" these students out? Did any of the statistics take into consideration the fact that many students in the USA are ESL students: "English as a Second Language" kids? I suspect there are not that many "CSL" or "KSL" in the mix here. Did the statisticians and test-makers take this into account?

I want some answers!

After cello lesson today (which went very well, I am pleased to report! My vibrato is coming along, ever-so-slowly), I went to the local market and purchased a local (i.e., Kansan) Christmas tree. It sits outside our front door as I write. It is beginning to feel a bit like Christmas.

After unloading the tree and feeding numerous famished (so they told me) animals, I came indoors to get the human dinner started: baked chicken and a slew of vegetables. That Spouse o' Mine arrived shortly thereafter, and announced that he, too, was famished, and proceeded to fix himself a broiled sandwich and chips and who-know-what else. That's o.k., I suppose. I told him I would pack the chicken and vegetables for lunch for him tomorrow. (It would help, though, if he would eat more during the day than coffee and a bowl of cereal; seriously?!?)

Tomorrow holds more cold weather and maybe a chance of overnight company. That will be nice!