piratical

Before I got comments and emails recommending cookies, I had already gone to the farmers market and had a bouquet of flowers made. The Computer Guy said he put them on his table so he could appreciate the beauty of them and they gave him energy, so I guess that’s okay. Cookies next time.

Various abstruse things are now being done with my website, but I’ve written it all and the art is finished, so it should be launched just any day now. I hope.

The choirlet started work on the Advent and Christmas music last night.

Usually, choirlet rehearsals are a matter of a group of ladies hanging around on a porch singing gospel music for a bit and then having cake. Last night was different.

First, we’re working on John Rutter’s “Christmas Lullaby” for Christmas. We’re also doing “What Sweeter Music,” which you can hear at the same link. I was making the ladies work on the hard bits of the song measure by measure. We don’t usually do this, but really it’s the only way to get a good sound on something challenging. They took it in good part.

Then we had to make a list of Advent music. We have five songs a week in the early service, and there are four Sundays in Advent, so we needed about 20 Advent songs. This church has not done Advent carols at all in the past, so this is a new departure. Mostly people were cooperative on this. However, there was some dissatisfaction.

“Aren’t we going to sing any of the old songs?” one asked, meaning Christmas carols.

“We’re getting so far away from what we started with,” bemoaned another, explaining that she meant there weren’t any country songs on the list.

I’m going to try to find some country Advent carols. However, I think the problem is that the songs she’s thinking of — things like “Just a Little Talk with Jesus” — are very low church, and Advent is at least slightly high church.

There was also some dissatisfaction with the idea of singing the Christmas songs on Christmas Eve.

“This isn’t our decision,” I said firmly. I explained the whole Advent Marketing 2008 concept.

We’ll see what comes of all this.