Jerry--

I'm with you--I love this time of year also. First of all, it's cooling off--and I like cool--or cold--weather. (Admittedly I generate heat like crazy--but in the winter that's an asset.) Sure not in the summer. (Jan says my thermostat is broken.)

Secondly, it's got to be the time of year with the all-time best music ever made.   Charpentier Messe de Minuit--lots of dance rhythms--just delightful to sing. Bach, Handel, Brahms--(Brahms Marienlieder is haunting.) Blues--Back Door Santa, etc.. Classics--Eartha Kitt--Santa Baby, etc.. Calypso Christmas songs. Wassail songs. Carols from all over the world--I was in a group that did a CD of Rumanian Christmas and Easter carols--you could hear Slavic influences---and Mozartian touches. Etc, etc. etc.

Then there are Hanukkuh songs. And for some reason I like to listen to Sephardic music this time of year also.



And even the old "done-to-death" carols can be good--if you sing them yourself--and aren't just hearing the n'th version piped in at a mall.

But why people think Christmas music is ONLY what they hear at a mall is beyond me.

I hear great new Christmas--and winter music in general--every year. And a lot of it is not new in the least--just new to me.


Presents--that's way down the list. Adults shouldn't expect them, in my view. Kids--sure, why not? (But I'll have to admit, I virtually always give music-related gifts. And they seem to accept them--I do try to tailor them to recipient's taste.

But anybody who revels in a wide variety of music--especially somebody who sings--must love this time of year. I sure do.