Christmas Eve

It's Christmas Eve morning.  I've been up for about two hours, enjoying serenity, Christmas lights, coffee, fruitcake, and reading.  Soon our Christmas festivities will commence - afternoon Mass, Christmas with my mother, who is celebrating her 98th Christmas, back home for spiced apple cider and "A Christmas Story" on TV.  Certain things have changed a bit on Christmas Eve night, since the youngest Bingle child is now 15, but the spirit and traditions still remain.  Santa will still visit (if all have been good, which they have), though we may not be up quite as early on Christmas morning as years past.   This year the Christmas morning gathering of our children will include a pharmacist and her husband, a teacher and his newly-official fiance (quite a Christmas present!), a new college graduate with aims to be a behavioral counselor for children through dance, a new college Freshman, and a high school Freshman.  It will be, as always, a joyous occasion!

The sharing season here at Merry & Bright has concluded - I hope you have all enjoyed the albums I've been able to share with you this year,  I still have a couple more posts to write before turning the dial to 'simmer'.  I'll be closing out the season with a "best of" post, perhaps some loose ends to tie up, and to make some acknowledgements to all the fine brothers-and-sisters-in-arms of the Christmas music community.

Until then, have a very Merry Christmas!

Aaron Henton
(Der Bingle)