An organist's tale of two Christmases

I love traveling at Christmas. I especially enjoy being able to travel before Christmas, to wherever I wish!

Christmas 2008: A church hopper's paradise

I was not employed at a church that year, and I had no Christmas gigs lined up (churches tend not to need subs on Christmas Eve unless the organist is sick), and so I was looking forward to church-hopping on Christmas Eve while visiting my sister. I don't ask advice on which churches to check out. I have fun making my own discoveries:

1. I look at advertised service times and start forming a general geographical plan of attack. How many churches can I "hit" in one evening?

2. Any church I visit must be of traditional architecture. Old or new, it must look like a church, not a warehouse.

3. If I find the church does not have a pipe organ, I will take in the architecture and the general quality of the music and then leave.

4. Attending a whole service is not necessary. Hearing some music is primary. Hearing the homily is not.

5. I tend to choose big buildings over smaller ones, preferring spaciousness to intimacy.

So, for Christmas Eve 2008, I attended a traditional candlelight service at a Baptist church with a good-sized hybrid organ. Then I arrived at the Catholic church during communion, during which a marimbist was playing a solo rendition of Feliz Navidad. I took in the sight of the Holtkamp tracker sitting unplayed, and then I quickly left. From there I went to a Presbyterian church, where I discovered that their advertised service time was one hour too late, and so I got there during Silent Night and did not get to hear the organ. From there, I went to my sister's church (Methodist), where the organist insisted that if he didn't play loudly, no one would sing. Therefore, we were screaming Christmas carols at the tops of our lungs. Gutbusters such as Away in a Manger and Silent Night. A very interesting approach to singing to a sleeping baby Jesus.

Christmas Day, I attended the local Episcopal church, where a friend of mine was playing. Good dose of liturgy for me, and my friend played the Mulet Carillon-Sortie for the postlude, inspired by my recent performance of it in recital in this area. I was honored.

Of course, dinner at the sister's was its usual marvelous quality. A happy Christmas indeed.

Christmas 2011: A hospital hopper's paradise

My mother has been very sick lately. We got her discharged from her hospital back home and drove her to my sister's for some TLC and fresh medical perspectives. Since my sister is the CFO of her hospital, the staff has been all too willing to meet her mother and help her as much as possible. Mother is doing much better. She is now discharged from that hospital, and we are all together at my sister's house for a few days.

And now I am looking forward to a fresh batch of churches for my church-hopping pleasure tomorrow night, Christmas Eve. And I will look forward to attending my sister's church again, where there is now a new organist, who, I'm told, will not require us to scream at the baby Jesus.

Now to you, Dear Reader, I wish a very Merry Christmas 2011 and a Happy 2012.