Old Retired Guy Blog
December 29, 2008
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The Wonderful Things About ChristmasIt's been a long time since my last blog entry. The holiday season has been quite busy and I've been putting in quite a few hours on a couple projects for my former employer, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. I'd like to end the year with a little holiday-related story. A week ago I went shopping for a new snow shovel. A storm was heading our way and our trusty at-least-30-year-old shovel broke that morning while Kathy was shoveling the driveway. After she headed for Racine to help her mom with some pre-holiday tasks, I headed for the hardware store. On the drive back the radio was tuned to a local station playing non-stop holiday music. As a Christmas song by some unlikely rock group came on I laughed out loud and said, "It seems like everybody's written a Christmas song!" I guess the fans expect it. I've never been the least bit interested in writing a Christmas song, but, having no fans, there's no pressure. When I got home I returned to some of my DEQ work. A little after 11 PM I realized I was in danger of falling asleep to David Letterman so I went to bed. As my mind began to settle a bit I was hit with an idea for a song: a Christmas song! In just a few minutes I had the first verse finished. After wondering if I'd remember it in the morning, I got up, grabbed a notebook, and wrote down the lyrics. It came complete with a melody but I can't write music so I sang it a few times and hoped I would remember the tune. I jotted down ideas for a second and third verse and then went back to bed. The next morning I was pleased to find that the melody came back when I looked at the lyrics. Over breakfast I finished a draft of three verses. Then I had to get some more work done for DEQ. Hey, they're paying me so I can't complain too much. Later in the afternoon, however, I sat down with my guitar and my draft lyrics and, after a short while, I had some simple chords worked out. I sang it a number of times on and off the rest of the day and continued to refine the lyrics. It was nice to have a new song, but the problem was, when would I ever get a chance to sing a Christmas song? About the only time I play for people is on Washington Island in July. I don't think I'd feel much like singing it then. As it turned out, however, the wild winter weather gave me an opportunity. Since Christmas Day was the only day of the week with decent weather, the Leuker Clan decided to come to Madison and have a Christmas lunch at out house. After lunch I explained the situation and they all sat down, some willingly, and listened to my Christmas song. It's called The Wonderful Things About Christmas. If you're interested, you can find the lyrics and an mp3 file here.
Happy Holidays!End of 'The Wonderful Things About Christmas' Entry |
