This morning we ran a couple of errands.  Baby Jesus, this time a snowman, came along with Mary and Joseph, who had taken scarves and wrapped them over their heads in a step toward Nativity authenticity.  Snowman Baby Jesus got cold in Office Depot, and Carmen and David got hot, so they swaddled Baby Jesus in a scarf.  When we got back to the car, they made sure I placed him in the trunk (gently! Carmen said) because they said he wanted to rest, and he is there still.

We stopped at Whole Foods last.  Our list wasn’t long–only five or six things–but it took us an hour to get through the store.  We took time greeting our favorite produce guy, ogling the fruit (we usually select some, but we were cold), and checking out the holiday displays.  In the bulk aisle C&D insisted they twist and tie up the flimsy plastic bags THEMSELVES while I held my breath and prayed the bags would not rip from the tugging; I imagined little French green lentils spraying down the aisle and all the way to the frozen meats.  In the frozen section, David sang Christmas songs and danced.*  While I looked for our loaf of bread in the bakery section, Carmen stroked the plastic covers over the prettily-frosted cakes and cookies.  We pulled ourselves away and C&D loaded up the cashier’s conveyor belt, their usual job, and we chit-chatted with the staff while holding up the line and the flow of shoppers out the door.  It was a perfect trip.

~

Carmen and David are smitten by the group Celtic Woman, discovered on a PBS Christmas special over the Thanksgiving weekend.  My mother found the CD and mailed it here right away.  C&D have now memorized the holiday CD nearly in its entirety, as it’s on repeat in the car and sometimes at home.  Sweet little people, they even try to sing the Latin bits.

The song they fell in love with first was track #3:  “Ding, Dong, Merrily on High.”  The song is catchy, but as you can see from the Christmas special excerpt below, the piece is even better with the addition  of a violinist who not only plays so prettily, but dances.  I was in the kitchen when David first heard and saw this piece, and I watched him lean toward the television, his mouth agape and his eyes wide and unblinking.

Mairbead Nesbitt, the violinist, has recorded an album and I think I need to present it to David for his birthday.

Number two in their list of hits is I think The Little Drummer Boy, perhaps followed by The Carol of the Bells (who doesn’t like that one?).  And Carmen is especially touched by the song White Christmas, even though it took her a few days to understand what the song was about, exactly, given that paucity of snowy Christmases at this latitude.

The house is quiet and our NPR affiliate is playing another Christmas special.  Last night, it was the St. Olaf Christmas Festival, tonight it’s the Music of the Baroque Holiday Concert hosted by Peter Van De Graaff.  It’s a good time for music.  Last night we attended the service of Lessons and Carols at church and the choir sang one of my favorite pieces, Franz Biebl’s Ave Maria.  Perfect.

* Actually, he was singing the refrain for Ding, Dong, Merrily on High:

Glo-O-o-o-o-o-O-o-o-o-o-o-O-o-o-o-o-o-O-o-o-o-o-o-O-o-o-o-o-o-O-ri-a, Ho-san-na in Ex-cel-sis!