Frosty the snowman

My daughter (younger one) is a girl guide and my wife is her group's leader. Last night, they went to a care home for Alzheimer's patients to sing Christmas carols. They tell me that some of them sang along, some patted their knees in time, and one lively fellow got up and danced a jig! They had great fun, and it felt good for them to momentarily restore the patients.

Music has so much power, it really does. It soothes, or it moves you to outrage. It hurts, even as it comforts. I remember one melancholy period of my life when I got tremendous solace from Suzanne Vega's "Solitude Standing" and Dire Straits "Love Over Gold." And yet both albums are largely about terrible misery!

Christmas music has so much power. It is not hard to place yourself in a manger on a starry middle eastern night when you hear "Silent Night." Unfortunately, I don't think I'm going to be involved in the Christmas choir this year...