It’s that time of year again –– muahahahaha –– sorry for the maniacal laugh. I just love Christmas time so much that it makes me crazy. Crazy in a good way. Crazy in a Holiday Cheer way.
Boston is a great place to be during the holidays. Strings of lights get thrown on buildings and there’s that dinky little tree in Kenmore –– it almost looks like the one in Rockefeller Center if you squint.
But I wish there was more caroling. You don’t hear about carolers much anymore. I’m sure they’re not dead or anything, maybe they just chose a different career path.
Like me, for example: I used to carol in high school, but now I am a college student and part-time baker (I make lots of cookies for my roommates).
When December comes around, I get hit with a pang of nostalgia and start to miss caroling. Some of my most fond memories of holiday joy stem from moments roaming suburban streets, a hot chocolate in the hand and a song in the heart.
What song? Oh, there were quite a few. There was “Oh Holy Night.” Classic. There was “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” which had a portion that required a single clap and sometimes people did it at the wrong part.
People. Definitely not me. Muahaha. Okay, that one was maniacal because I just lied to you.
Anyway, my most favorite song by far was “Winter Wonderland.” There are a few reasons for this. One is that I got to sing the melody –– great news because I didn’t learn my notes for any of the other songs and had been doing that on every song anyways.
But more importantly, it was my favorite because it was a sweet song that everyone could use to get in the holiday spirit. Except, maybe, people in hotter climates.
Honestly, looking back on it, we got most people in the holiday spirit. There would be little old couples, smiling as they opened their door to hear us sing, warm by the light of their burning fireplace. There would be kids, dancing around and singing along –– not always on pitch, but I’m told that’s beside the point.
Actually, in hindsight, the kids being really good would’ve been bad for business. What? Why would I want them to upstage us?
I should also mention that there were sometimes people who shut their lights off and locked their door as they saw us approaching their house.
Did I take offense to this, you ask? No. Well, maybe a little –– I mean, why would they lock their door? It’s not like we’re going to barge in, tie them up and make them listen to us butcher “Frosty the Snowman.”
But, I get it. I probably wouldn’t want to stand awkwardly in my doorway listening to a bunch of 16-year-olds sing either. And yet I did want to be one of the 16-year-olds singing –– we all have our place in this world.
You know, realistically, it should’ve been me –– the “Caroler Extraordinaire” –– that was bringing others joy. But I found it often resulted in the opposite.
The little old couples made me smile. The kids made me want to dance. The people turning their lights off made me want to bang on their door and beg them to let us sing for them because we’d been practicing an awful lot (not really, I didn’t know my notes). I’m not bitter. And that last one isn’t relevant. Scratch it from the record so it’s just the stuff about happy elderly people and children.
I could write something about coming together with your community being powerful, which is true. I could write something about spreading holiday cheer, which is great. But, honestly, I just think the holidays are about doing something that brings you joy.
Maybe that’s going caroling. Maybe that’s turning off your lights so the carolers stay the hell away. Maybe it’s being with family. Maybe it’s hiding in your room and enjoying the peace and quiet of not hearing your cousin talk about the boat he’s building in one of the Carolinas.
Do what you will this holiday season.
Drink some eggnog.
Get fat.
Have a ball.
Boy, I know I will –– muahahaha.
Sorry. Remember: revved up with Holiday Cheer laughs. Nothing maniacal about it.
