Photo Shoot: Stop and hear the music
The last two months of the year always seem to race by like a two-act play based on Norman Rockwell paintings; think perfectly cooked turkey on a long table surrounded by three generations of family.
Flash forward, Christmas and a vintage 1950s family circles the tree with perfectly wrapped presents. At our house, a week or two after Halloween, the smiling plastic pumpkin gets packed away and out come the Thanksgiving decorations. The sturdy 20-pound turkey provides a great feast and lots of leftovers, and then several days of turkey soup. It could be called the seven days of Thanksgiving.
After soup, December has arrived and it’s time to open 24 windows on the Advent calendar. Newspaper world kicks into holiday high gear, photos of decorations strung from every light pole and tree along the Cape’s main streets. As the month advances a coating of snow is always wished for, helping to jazz up holiday photos with that old-fashioned Christmas feel. It seems there is always one more photo assignment to fill, and on the home front, presents to wrap, baked goods to make.
But lurking out there in the hubbub are small gifts, waiting to be received. Usually, by the second week of December, Christmas music is the soundtrack of daily life. I can’t get enough. Bing Crosby was crooning in the store’s overhead speakers the other day and I couldn’t help, but quietly, singing along while searching out one of the last strings of tree lights to be found. Walking out of the Main Street office last week I spied a guitar player with a great beard, wearing a Santa hat, strumming and singing Christmas carols on a guitar. Camera at the ready I asked to make images, he nodded yes. Then it was a wonderful 15 minutes of live music on a chilly afternoon. I was amazed how the rest of the pedestrians hustled by bundled up, ignoring the show. I would have stayed longer, blaring sirens signaled breaking news nearby and I was off, such is the news business.
The next day, my annual visit to Highfield Hall decorated for their annual holiday event. I wandered grand rooms decorated to perfection and was truly in a Rockwell painting. Getting ready to leave I noticed a player settling in at the grand piano, I asked to make a few photos. Judy Rish introduced herself and said there was a 97-year-old singer joining her later. Tenor Joe Lamparelli walked in, unfurled a well worn book of Christmas music and the duo soon filled the giant old mansion with carols, a magical moment.
Driving back to the office with the songs of the season playing in mind, I was reminded of wise words from the Grinch, “Maybe Christmas he thought, doesn’t come from a store, Maybe Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.” Take pause this year, no matter where you are, listen to the music, it is never far away and is the season’s best gift.
This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Stopping to hear the music in the busy holiday season
