Merry Holidays!

Happy holidays to everyone, no matter what celebration you take part in. John and I are relaxing this Christmas Eve. I think we are both a little sad not to be back in the Midwest with our families, but, as you can see, our tree is full and we are looking forward to having a relaxing Christmas before I run off for a very long time.

I've always celebrated Christmas as a secular holiday. I was not raised with any particular religion and didn't really know the origin of Christmas (the story of Jesus and the Nativity) until I was well into my grammar school years. My grandmother always had a nativity set up under the tree with all of the animals and wise men and baby in a manger. When we went to Florida for the holidays, my brothers and I would play with it as we would any other set up; it was fun, we made the people talk to each other. It wasn't until much later that I understood why it was always there at Christmas time.


This picture is Stella and Monty staring at the tree. They've stayed away from it; we've been lucky. My mother's cat, Abigail, took down their 6 foot Christmas tree this year. I can't imagine. Our tree is a small table-top tree but these wily cats could still cause quite a mess if they really wanted to.


I've been prepping for Agrippina like mad. As you can see, Lucius is a big help in the process. He sits on the couch with me while I transfer one score's notes to the other and type up scene breakdowns, etc. He's a constant source of inspiration; my "mews" if you will (sorry...) . Monty sometimes joins him, but Lucius is the constant.

So, tonight John and I will play a game and watch a movie and open a present or two, we'll sleep in tomorrow, call our families and open gifts. It's a great time of year. I hope, whatever your traditions are, that you are enjoying a couple of relaxing days, you aren't stressing yourself out, and you have the opportunity to commune with those you really love. More soon from the Opera front!