Friday, December 23, 2016.
The One And Only One Rehearsal.
Near as I could tell, there was nothing going on at the radio offices, and therefore not much reason for me to be there. It was just as well. A traffic blockage on the Causeway forced everybody north of the eight-mile post to turn around and head back to where they came from. Never did find out what caused the shutdown.
This forced me to cancel my annual Christmas Caroling On The Air, in which I ask anyone who wants to have a little fun to attempt singing on the air. The reward is a new cookbook from the boxes of them that came in during the previous year. We've gone through this enough times that people start asking me about it weeks beforehand. But not being able to deliver either the books or myself to the radio station, I had to call it off. The rules are stringent: I can't give away any prize that isn't already in the offices.
I did have some fun singing tonight, however. After Christmas 2014, I was so impressed by the quality of the choir at St. Jane de Chantal in Abita Springs that I asked the leader whether I could join up. She said I could.
"When are the rehearsals?" I asked. Rehearsals on days that conflict with the radio show have made me quit a few organizations over the years.
"We don't rehearse," Denise Wagner told me. "Unless you count the run-through and the party we have before Christmas every year." That should work for me.
I couldn't attend last year's Christmas party, but this year I was there. It took us only about a half-hour to run through what were to me a familiar collection of songs.
The most interesting part of this involved a solo performance by a boy who can't be more than five or six years old. I stood next to him during the run-throughs. I was amazed by what a terrific singer he is. He didn't miss a note that I could tell. And he has a sense of rhythm and sophistication. Glad to see such natural gifts coming up.
Denise and Michael Wagner put forth a nice buffet of chicken andouille gumbo and an assortment of appetizers and desserts. I brought a box of petits fours from the little bakery in Abita Springs. Somebody else made what looked like a cross between a flan and a bread pudding.
I'm really an outsider in this group. Most of the others seem to be related. But now that I've shown up every week for two years, I am part of the ensemble. I've taken part in chorus singing since I was a year or so younger than than today's talented newcomer. He's better than I was at that age.
