With Christmas coming next week I thought I’d share the memory of a great Christmas vacation when I was a kid. Our family home was a simple and small ranch style house in central Nebraska that we built in the early ‘60s with an addition on the back to make it big enough for 5 kids. Our garage was almost to the back of the lot with the neighbor’s house next to us with their garage at the back of the lot too. This meant that both of our driveways went from the street all the way along one side of the lot, and both driveways were next to each other with a short hedge and a small strip of grass dividing them. The long driveway meant we had a lot of concrete to skate and ride skateboards on as well as a long court for basketball. This was great until the snow came, and we used to get a lot of it in the ‘60s in Nebraska. The neighbor had planted the hedge between us for a border, but it also helped them avoid some of the snow that fell on our driveway. It had something to do with the way the wind whipped between our addition on the back of the house and our garage. The wind created swirling eddies in front of our garage, and then the hedge blocked the snow from blowing onto their driveway. As a result we could have three feet of snow dumped on our driveway when they only had four inches. The one Christmas I especially remember was when I was young enough to still enjoy building snow forts. We often had enough snow fall on our driveway that when we shoveled it from the garage all the way to the front yard it would make a pretty good-sized mound of snow. Well, on this particular Christmas we had snow that fell in a moderate amount every day for eleven days from before Christmas until sometime between Christmas and New Year during Christmas vacation. We were able to shovel so much snow into the front yard that we had two huge mounds and built two snow forts, one on each corner by the drive, with a tunnel that ran from one to the other and then across the front yard for several feet. It was the coolest thing ever, and all the kids in the neighborhood came to play with me in it. It lasted for many days until we had a warm day and someone broke through as we sledded from the top of one fort down into the yard. All these years later I still remember it vividly. That one was one great Christmas!
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What have I been up to?
I had 9 senior facilities last week although another one was cancelled - again due to changing staff and situations. I need to do a better job of checking in with people. I enjoyed spreading Christmas cheer at all of them including the ones where I played for their Christmas party.
My Wednesday online show was doing Christmas songs, and I concentrated on doing older Christmas songs that I love. I even recited the old poem “The Night Before Christmas” since it is 200 years old this year. It was a very nice time!
Friday night I got to play at The Broadmoor for the Council of State Governments Western Legislative Academy graduation. It was a lot of fun, and it’s always a thrill to see The Broadmoor at Christmas with its beautiful decorations.
Saturday night I played a Christmas concert at the Bell Tower Cultural Center in Florence, Colorado, and it was wonderful even though the crowd was a little smaller than usual with the Denver Broncos playing for a playoff bid that night. It’s hard to compete with football, but we made a fine time of it with some great Christmas songs and stories and Christmas goodies.
My Sunday online show was mostly Christmas songs to go with the season, but I snuck in some other favorites as well to round out the show. I always love playing for all the folks who come and share the music and themselves at my shows.
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What am I up to this week?
I have 14 senior facilities this week, and I’m looking forward to helping them all celebrate the season. This is the best time of the year to sing great songs and encourage folks.
My Wednesday online show 7-8:45 mountain time will be Christmas songs again, and this time I’ll try to go a little farther afield with my song choices. I’m sure I’ll get a lot of great requests as well. Come on out if you can!
My Sunday online show 7-8:45 mountain time will be a special Christmas Eve show for those who are more solitary this year or for those can steal away from family for a while or want to share my music and our group with that family. It should be a good night of memories and sharing. I’d love to have you if you’d like to watch.
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That’s it for this week. I’ll probably have a special Christmas Day blog next week although I may wait until the day after so I don’t interrupt anyone’s celebration and don’t work on the holiday myself. Enjoy this special last week before Christmas, and if I don’t post a blog on Christmas Day, Merry Christmas!
Best,
Tom
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Details this week:
Who: Tom Munch
What: playing and singing an online concert of Christmas songs
Where: facebook.com/tom.munch and tommunch.com/online-concerts
When: Wednesday, December 20, 7-8:45 pm mountain time
Who: Tom Munch
What: playing and singing an online concert of favorites and requests
Where: facebook.com/tom.munch and tommunch.com/online-concerts
When: Sunday, December 24, 7-8:45 pm mountain time