Remembering Christmas, Day 7: That perfect tree

Remember Aunt Stana and her larger-than-life Christmas trees from Day 4? One year we got to experience the hunt for the perfect tree with Aunt Stana and Uncle Charles. It was awesome!

I was born and raised in sunny Arizona in the part of the state where the weather was stereotypical of Arizona, hot, dry and hot, hot, HOT! No snow and barely cold. My dad got a permit to cut down a tree out in Williams somewhere - I'm pretty sure we were near the Grand Canyon, perhaps the North Rim, but I could be terribly wrong. Maybe the permit was for the Kaibab forest. I don't know. But we had a permit and a hodge podge of "winter" clothes to keep warm.

When you're young, traveling places always seem further away than they really are. Going to Williams was a big deal for me. It was so far! And so magically covered in snow. What joy to pop out of the truck and just jump around and leave my footprints in the snow - a mark that I had been there! We searched around for the perfect tree. Our "perfect" was much smaller and easier to manage than what Aunt Stana had in mind. It took several hands to load up Aunt Stana's tree onto the truck once she found 'the one.'

Speaking of hands, mine were freezing. Mom let me use her tan Isotoner gloves which looked all too sleek and fancy for playing in the snow, but that didn't stop me. I don't think Kevin was on this trip. I probably would've played more in the snow if he had been there.

When we headed back, we stopped by Aunt Stana's house before heading back to our place. I don't know how much of the top was cut from her tree - probably enough to make a respectable 2 footer for a small apartment. Can you just smell the pine? And hear the crunch of the snow...?

Remembering Christmas, Day 6: Shawl we sing?

I don't know if public schools still have Christmas programs. Or do they call them holiday programs now? Well, back in my day when I was a grade schooler, we had Christmas programs. We sang about the baby Jesus and harked to Angels and wisssshed (because kids can't just wish) people a Merry Christmas and life was good.

These Christmas programs were held in the evening so all the parents could attend. I remember pulling into the parking lot at Desert Valley Elementary School and walking to the auditorioum. We sang our programs and "click, click, clicked" to our hearts' content. I think we had a Christmas program every year in elementary school, so most of the programs run together and I can't tell you what song was sung in what grade.

I was in grade school in the early 90's, and I believe that my mother's wardrobe reflected that. For instance, my mom was a wearer of shawls. Do people still wear shawls these days? I remember wearing that shawl to one of the Christmas programs. I don't know if I had taken it from my mom and left her to freeze in the cold Bullhead City winter eve or if it was a prearranged agreement. But I wore the shawl and it was brown and had little hangy fringe things, and I'm sure I was wearing white leggings because I wore those a lot back in the day. And a Santa hat. There was definitely a Santa hat on my head. And maybe a side pony because it was the early 90's.

Remembering Christmas, Day Five: Memories yet to come or the House that Chelsea Built

On a cold, snowy Saturday in December I joined 4 girls from my bible study and 30+ other volunteers at the local Habitat for Humanity build sight. With the impending bad weather, we were sure as heck we'd be inside painting or something. Boy were we wrong! And mostly because I opened my big mouth and volunteered us for trusses. "Oh that sounds like fun," I said, as my hand shot up. Well fun was ten feet in the air in a second floor room with incomplete roof coverage. Did I mention it was a cold and snowy day?


Four of us girls and one unsuspecting guy headed up the ladder to meet our build leader. I could only imagine what was going through his mind as he saw four girls emerge through the second story window. For nearly three hours we stood up in the rafters on 2x4's hammering away at the boards that would become the structural support for the house's roof. As we broke for lunch, our build leader looked around and was suprised to see that we had completed about a full day's work in three hours.


The break for lunch came at the right time. Wet, hungry, and cold to the core, we huddled around a propane heater emitting 50,000 BTUs of glorious heat as we waited for our warm pizza to arrive. Nearly dry and well fed, we climbed back up the ladder for two more hours of snowy work. When quitting time came, we gladly cleaned up our tools, stood back, and admired the hard work we had accomplished.

Where does the Christmas come in for this memory? I don't know yet. But I can only hope that once this house is finished and the fortunate family who moves in will make and have years of wonderful Christmas memories to look back on. I can just picture what this house would look like with Christmas lights along the trim, especially as the snow fell on us that cold, Saturday afternoon.

(Pictures from the build are coming - experiencing slight difficulties w/ the camera.)

Remembering Christmas Day 4: A Clammy Christmas Eve

My mom has a pretty big family, and growing up, we all lived pretty close to each other. Every Christmas Eve, we went to my Aunt Stana and Uncle Charles' for dinner. The menu was the same every year: Uncle Charles' famous clam chowder with oyster crackers or bread. If there was anything else to go with it, I don't remember. Clam chowder is just about the only type of fish/seafood that I can stomach and there were a couple years in there where I couldn't eat the clams if the pieces were too large. I eventually got over that, though I tend to put too many crackers in the soup to make up for the fact that it's seafood. I am of the mindset that fish and all the creatures of the ocean are to be consumed by other creatures of the ocean. It's not a whole animal rights thing because Lord knows I love me a good burger, but I digress.

Everyone came for Christmas Eve dinner. It was an opportunity to see the cousins that were away at school or the family that lived further away. Aunt Jackie and Uncle Doyle were there with Chris and Del, Aunt Pat, Uncle Jim and their boys, Grandma, Hank, Aunt Stana's boys, etc. - I'd say at least 30 people. And sometimes members of the extended family would just pop in for whatever leftovers were hanging around. The youngest kids sat at a small table right under the kitchen bar. There was this really cool, small, green bucket chair that Aunt Stana used to sit her dog Sasha in when she bathed her. That was always a fun chair to sit in.

Aunt Stana (not pictured) was pretty serious about her Christmas decorations, especially the tree. An artificial or some measly shrub from the tree lot just wouldn't do. Each year they got a permit to cut down their own tree. Bigger, fuller, and wider was always better when Aunt Stana picked her tree - think the Griswold family tree from Christmas Vacation. They often had to cut several feet off the top just to fit it through the door. Bags of tinsel dangled from every branch. I always wished that we could put tinsel on our trees, but Cricket would eat it, so I had to get my tinsel fill at Aunt Stana's house. Sometimes there would be a Christmas movie on in the background, sometimes the whole family would gather round and play a game, but there was always tons of visiting. Uncle Doyle always outdid himself with Christmas cookies and Aunt Jackie's fudge made an appearance if the weather cooperated and she got a good batch.

Dad drove and he preferred the red Ford pick-up. Kevin and I would fight over who got to sit next to mom because it was late by the time we would leave and sitting next to mom meant we had a shoulder to fall asleep on during the ride home, which seemed a lot longer when we were growing up. When we got home, we each got to open one present - a new ornament to go on the Christmas tree. We crawled in our bunks, went to sleep, and waited for the surprises of the next morning.

That's how Christmas Eve went for several years growing up.

Remembering Christmas: Days 1-3

I have over a quarter of a century of Christmases under my belt, and with the tree trimmed and the stockings flung, I thought it would be cool to reminisce about the jolly days of yore. So each day until Christmas I will post a memory – recent, distant, or somewhere in between. And since I missed the first two days of December, you get three for the price of one today! How lucky are you?

We’ll start with a recent memory. Last year was my first Christmas season in DC. All the roommates of the 1/2 house got together to decorate. Laura's family had a spare, fake tree lying around, so it was brought home for us to work our Christmas magic. The tree was quite easy to put together - just three sections with the branches already attached. We just had to fluff and primp (or probe, as Tara called it) the branches and plug in the already strung lights. The tree was beautiful, but it was missing the all important stand. We tried to be resourceful but our resources as far as makeshift tree stands were non-existent. So we just leaned the tree up against the wall. Yeah, tacky, I know, but it totally worked. This year we have the same tree with the same problem. But instead of leaning it against the wall, we took the fireplace tool stand and tied the tree up to that. It's secure and errect despite a 30-40 degree lean to the right. Color lights have been added and currently there are nine ornaments on the 7-foot tall tree. For some reason it seems fitting that the tree leans...it adds character.

My grandparents had an 8 track player when they lived in the Willow Valley mobile. One of the 8 tracks was of Christmas songs. It was a white deck with colorful pictures of a stocking, candy cane, and several other Christmasy images. There is only one song from the 8 track that I remember - a rendition of "Silver Bells." I'm not sure if this is true or if I just made it up, but I think "Silver Bells" was my Grandan's favorite Christmas song. He whistled it often. I'll have to see if we kept the 8 tracks and player when my grandparents moved. It'd be cool to listen to it again.

Memory #2 was triggered this morning as I was listening to my Zune player. I put my Christmas music on random and Neil Diamond's version of "Silver Bells" came on. Neil Diamond leads me to my next memory. My mom is a huge Neil Diamond fan. I'm pretty sure she was able to drag my dad to one of his concerts years ago, so we definitely had his albums in our house. His best album? The Christmas Album, of course! Growing up, my brother and I shared a room. Some nights we would jump out of our beds and put on The Christmas Album, skip to track #4 and rock out with Neil Diamond to "Santa Claus is Coming to Town." It was not uncommon for us to bust out the air guitar and air drums.

So there's Christmas memories one, two and three for December 1st, 2nd and 3rd. Tune in each day, every day until Christmas for a new memory. Just 22 more to go! Feel free to share a memory of your own. And to get you in the mood, here's Neil Diamond singing "Santa Claus is Coming to Town."

Gott Wagner?

I'm coming out of blogger hiatus for a quick post. I should be packing for my flight to California that leaves in 5 hours and catching some sleep, but I'm on too much of a high to focus on that.

This evening I spent five glorious hours at the opera house. I know what you're thinking, "who puts five hours at the opera house and glorious in the same sentence?" I do...after hearing Washington National Opera's concert performance of Richard Wagner's Götterdämmerung. The concertized opera featured Swedish soprano Iréne Theorin as Brünnhilde (whom I mildly have a girl crush on, but that's a story for another day), American tenor Jon Fredric West as Siegfried, Israeli bass-baritone Gidon Saks as Hagen, and American baritone Gordon Hawkins (sporting a cam-walker boot and cane) as Alberich. They were all STELLAR! as was the orchestra led by Philippe Auguin.

This was my first foray into Wagner. A couple months ago, I would have told you it would take me years before I even considered listening to one of his operas. They're long, intense, and if the music doesn't hit you right, it can seem too harsh to really enjoy. But things just fell into place and I actually was excited to attend the performance. Obviously for me the main draw was Theorin. I'm normally not drawn to dramatic or heavier voices, but something just clicked for me while I've watched her performances in Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos. It was a voice I wanted to hear more of, and since I had seen Ariadne seven times, I needed something different. And Wagner was my only option. I also had a chance to speak to one of WNO's stage managers who had grown up listening to the Ring. It was something that she totally "got" and I don't know how she did it, but she was able to convey that to me in a way that really piqued my interest.

Aside from knowing the basic synopsis, I really had no idea what to expect, but I did know that Götterdämmerung was the conclusion of Wagner's four part Der Ring des Nibelungen, an epic saga very similar to Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. So here's the gist, Brünnhilde and Siegfried are married, and as a token of his love, Siegfried has given the powerful ring to Brünnhilde. Well Hagen wants that ring. So he crafts a plan to have Gutrune slip Siegfried a potion that will make him fall in love with her. Then Siegfried will woo Brünnhilde on behalf of Gunther and Hagen will then try and snag the ring. As in most cases, things don't go as planned. For one, Brünnhilde is a feisty and skeptical broad and doesn't buy in to the whole thing. Words are exchanged and Siegfried is eventually killed by Hagen. Brünnhilde finds out that Siegfried was given a potion and realizes that he really did love her. So she gets the ring back and jumps into Siegfried's funeral pyre with her magical flying horse. They are reunited in death, the ring is given back to the Rhinemaidens and all is good. End scene!

So the music. It really is intense, but in a good way. It's hard not to get swept up in it. The music tells a story and it's so very visual. I don't know if that makes sense, but it really paints a picture. Different themes (or lietmotifs) are used for the different characters, and it's really cool to be able to recognize that and pick out the lietmotifs that go with the characters. Wagner was certainly a genius when it came to composing. And maestro Auguin had a great command of WNO's orchestra. I normally can't tell the difference between good and great, but these guys were on their game tonight.

Oh and the singers!!! They have this beautiful music dripping with such dramatic intensity from start to finish and they just sing the holy hell out of it. There were some areas that lulled in comparison to others, but I was just so captivated by what these artists were giving me. The entire cast gave a great performance. Standouts were Gidon as Hagen and Gordon as Alberich. I also enjoyed Bernadette Flaitz as Gutrune (though she looks a little tense on stage)and Betsy Bishop as Waltraute (girl can strut in her fabulous red gown!).

And Iréne!!! My God the woman can belt! I thought she was great in Ariadne, but she totally kicks ass as Brünnhilde. She has such command of the role and she completely lets loose on those notes. She's loud, but in control. It's never an abrasive or unattractive sound - just a really loud, powerful, intense quality. She was absolutely beautiful in a black sparkly dress. One of my friends that I saw the show with commented that it looked a little like armor in the sense that it glistened and had a silvery-ness to it. But boy was she sparkly! Her character basically gets the last hurrah in the opera (and the Cycle for that matter). Called the Immolation Scene, Iréne stood solo on stage in front of a cloudy gray backdrop, a spotlight shining on her, and basically takes charge of things. She orders the pyre for Siegfried's funeral, tells the Rheinmaidens what to do with the ring, and just sets everything right. Iréne's interpretation of the Immolation scene was intense. Since she's the only one on stage, you're obviously going to be drawn to her. But she has such a magnetizing stage presence that it becomes a very intent focus. I wish you could all experience what I did! She pulled me in and by the time she was calling for peace from the gods, the tears had begun to well up. The music and the singing, it was just so impassioned. I have never heard a voice quite like that before - I sat in my chair trembling with tears streaming down my face. I completely connected with Wagner's opera and Theorin's performance (and I'm tearing up right now just thinking about it). After Theorin finished the Immolation scene, she stood completely still as the orchestra played out and the curtain finally came down.

The audience response was none that I have ever heard in an opera house before. Fans of Wagner know their stuff, and they know when something is good and when something is spectacular. I am not exaggerating - the crowd popped to their feet as soon as the curtain went down. Iréne came out, and she was showered with cheers and applause - honestly, the longest solo bow I've ever experienced, and it was completely well deserved. The rest of the cast each got their due, and the entire company was bathed in lavish applause. This is totally what opera is about and why I'm in love with the art form. It's a performance like this, when the artists give their absolute all and everyone is just on, that makes for those memorable evening that just sticks with you. It's why I come back. It's why I sit for five hours in a dark opera house, so that I can be moved to tears. It's why I'll be going back next Sunday for round two.

I must say that the "production" also worked. This wasn't just a stand and sing concert performance. The gray backdrop added an appropriate mood to the atmosphere and the artists interacted with each other instead of just standing still. It didn't matter to me that this wasn't an actual staged opera. The drama was there in the singing. I think it also allowed the artists to really focus on the music and not be hindered by any staging or costumes.

So that was my first Wagner experience. I'm pretty sure I'm hooked.

You think about the events that get you from one place to the other, and how it can be one performance or one voice that brings you to the next. If I had never heard Iréne sing, I think it would have taken me much longer to realize the beauty of Wagner and really understand its awesomeness. So I guess this is my "thank you" to Iréne. And if you're in DC on November 15th, go see Götterdämmerung! It's awesome! And Iréne Theorin is balls to the wall Ah-MAZING!!!

Iréne Theorin (as Ariadne) and Me!

Finally Friday Music Clip(s) of the Day: The "Getting Old" Edition

Because I have just completed and am about to embark upon another trip around the sun, here is a lovely duet by the awesome Jimmy Buffett and Martina McBride:



And I swear, this is the last time. But since tomorrow is Washington National Opera's opening night and they're simulcasting Rossini's The Barber of Seville to Nationals Park and I will be there with my friends to continue my birthday celebration, I must include more Barber. Here's the late, great American soprano Beverly Sills singing "Una voce foca pa". And in case you were wondering, this was one of the first opera videos that I saw after returning from the Renee Fleming Denver recital in 2007.

Finally Friday Music Clip(s) of the Day: The "Deuce" Edition

It's the middle weekend of the US Open and I'M GOING!!! I've been a huge tennis fan since high school. I have no idea why, but it's the only sport that I can consistently watch on tv and really get into it. And now I'm finally going to an Open. Two of the roommates are joining me on this super quick trip to NY, and although we will probably be in a bus for more time than we'll actually be at the Open, I don't care! Because it'll be awesome!

So in the spirit of tennis, I found these quirky tunes.
The Tennis Song - Red, White and Green



I'm not really a Roger fan, but this song rhymes "Federer" with "sweaterer" so I couldn't resist.



I am a Rafa fan so this song was going to make the cut anyway, but props to them for rhyming "Mallorca" and "New Yorka" - not a total stretch, but still.

Finally Friday Music Clip of the Day: From Rain to Rainbows Edition

Eva Cassidy is a soulful chick. I have her Songbird album and it's awesome. I believe it's the only album she put out, because she passed away really young. Anywho, here she is singing "Wade in the Water." (Just listen to the song, don't necessarily need to watch this video.)



This clip is really short, but upon learning that Reading Rainbow will no longer be featured on PBS, I feel compelled to post the amazingly catchy theme.

Finally Friday Music Clip of the Day: The "TGIF" Edition

Technically speaking, I'm now part of the workforce. I commute. I put in 40 hours. I'm over worked and underpaid. I can't wait till 6:00pm Friday rolls around. I am now working for the weekend. But I love what I'm doing! I get to make the dull into delicious!

Loverboy's "Working for the Weekend"


Oh and because I PR things you're going to hear this until I can't PR things anymore: If you're in DC, make your way to Nats Stadium on September 12th at 7:00pm for WNO's opening night simulcast of the Barber of Seville. It's opera, beer, hotdogs, and crackerjacks. And it's FREE! You'd be a fool to miss it.

Thomas Hampson (a very young Thomas Hampson:) singing "Largo al Factotum" from The Barber of Seville.