The 12 Essays of Christmas, Day 9: The music

"Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything."
                                                                                  - Plato

AUBURN, Maine — It happens every holiday season. We finish eating our turkey dinners and watching morning high school football games when radio stations across the nation begin blasting away with holiday music.

The airwaves are saturated with several versions of "White Christmas" and "I'll be Home for Christmas" playing on hundreds of stations across America.

There is no holding back and it continues until New Year's Day.

I get to the point where I could listen to rap music after nearly a month of "Grandma got Run over by a Reindeer."

Serves her right for assaulting our senses.

Black Friday is usually seen as the green light for the deluge of holiday music to begin pummeling our senses with 800 versions of "Silent Night." Sometimes, I believe radio is a co-conspirator that helps trigger the nation's buying spree during the Christmas rush.

This endless holiday music makes us all yearn for Bruce Springsteen or "The Lumineers" on the FM dial.

I enjoy Christmas music but listening to it 24-7 for nearly month can be strain on my ears. The music acts like a drug as you drift in and out of stores looking for gifts.

The hardest emotion I have to confront during the most wonderful time of year is the holiday music that dredges up memories of Christmas past, and that stings, especially without our mothers and a father battling a disease.

Look, Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole and Johnny Mathis are crooners who can turn a bad holiday song into gold. But when I try to listen to Neil Diamond sing the "Little Drummer Boy" song, I reach for the dial. Neil should have stepped aside and let the Harry Simeon Choir take sole possession of that piece because nobody does that sweet holiday tune justice than the choirs' angelic voices.

If you had enough of Bing, Bennett and The Carpenters, pick up a copy of "The Snowman." It is 1982 animated cartoon featuring music by English composer Howard Blake. This 26-minute gem, which was nominated for an Academy Award in 1982, features choirboy Peter Auty performing "Walking on Air." 

You like Christmas music?

Charlie Brown and the Peanuts are tough acts to follow when they sing "Hark the Herald" at the end of their Christmas special. What makes this holiday TV special delightful is jazz musician Vince Guaraldi's music.

But their is nothing like the old favorites that never get old.

Look, Christmas music can be inspiring even if you are a nonbeliever like me.

The 12 Essays of Christmas, Day 5: The decorations

• • "Christmas is not as much about opening our presents as opening our hearts."
• • Janice Maeditere

AUBURN, Maine - We drag out nearly a dozen boxes  from our damp-and dark cellar every December.

We lug the boxes upstairs and begin sorting through bulbs and home-made decorations, each with its own precious history.

The tree has been stationed in the corner of the living room and its bare branches will soon be covered with cherished decorations and tinsel wraps.

Each bulb or ornament marks the passing of time and has its own story to tell. Decorating the tree is like taking a trip down memory lane each yuletide.

We remember Aunt Eddie's homemade angel ornament or my mother's funny gift of a Dunkin Donuts decoration. We go through all the ornaments as try to remember where they all came from.

There are so many ornaments the we have acquired over the last few decades. My wife, who is a full-time ed tech at a junior high, has received many ornaments from students and fellow teachers. There are decorations that my son handmade in elementary school and unique ornaments from her mother.

For instance, there is Anthony's green-painted ornament with a picture of him pasted on the front.

It is priceless.

"Our First Christmas Together" is always a sentimental favorite. 

We have so many ornaments that they can't fit on a 6-foot Christmas tree. So we bought a small fake tree at a yard sale last year to accommodate our decorations.

No ornament will be left in behind. That is our motto.

Some ornaments break and are reluctantly disposed of in the trash. It is like tossing away a memory.

It hurts.

And there are the dazzling ornaments that nobody knows where they came from. But we enjoy the mystery and still place them upon our tree - no questions asked.

Just when we are about to place a moratorium on purchasing another ornament to add to our vast collection, there is always one decoration that we can't with live without.

Anthony couldn't resist purchasing a glass-bulb ornament with "The Alamo" nestled inside this unique decoration.

Thinking about "The Alamo" made me feel warm and fuzzy all over.

But what is wrong with adding a new memory to our tree each year?