Christmas Carols in the ‘Hood

Last Saturday, we went to the annual Jericho Community Association caroling event with no sense of what to expect.  About 15 people of all ages arrived at the home of Celia and Doug, practiced a few tunes with John on the piano (apparently a music professor at Dartmouth?) and waited for Marty to arrive.

Marty drove up in his big truck and came around with a fifteen foot ladder and we all climbed on board. The sides of the truck’s bed were lined with hay bales and another row of bales ran down the middle. We all took a seat and began singing. Marty drove off in thick fog.  We made several stops that night – serenading some of the older folks in the valley and singing as we drove through the foggy night. The highlight of the evening was pulling into the old Miller dairy farm where we all climbed down and headed into the milking barn. Standing just a few feet away from rear ends of cows, we sang Silent Night, We Wish You a Merry Christmas, and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. For some reason, that last carol got some reactions from some of the herd, as a few cows started mooing.

The kids in the group loved Rudolph, as they were able to insert their comments along the way…

• …had a very shiny nose (“LIKE A LIGHT BULB!”)
• …you would even say it glows (“LIKE PINOCCHIO!)
• …as they shouted out with glee (“TEE HEE HEE!”)
• …you’ll go down in history (“LIKE GEORGE WASHINGTON!”)

On the way back down the hill after the last caroling stop, Todd belted out Jose Feliciano’s “Feliz Navidad” and the kids jumped right in.  Todd swears its one of the dumbest carols ever. Listen to it.  It is 3 minutes long and goes like this:

• Feliz Navidad, Feliz Navidad, Feliz Navidad, prospero aňo y felicidad (repeat once)
• I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas, I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas, I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas, from the bottom of my heart (repeat once)
• OK, do that all again, THREE MORE TIMES (with an “AHA!” thrown in once in the middle)

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Anyway, we got back to Celia’s for post-caroling hot cider and treats that everyone brought.  Todd brought his signature barbecued ribs and a loaf of homemade bread.  George came in from the milking barn and we talked for a long time with him and Marty. When someone asked Celia about Doug’s whereabouts, we found out he is in Namibia, and Celia and their daughter are heading to South Africa next week.

We asked Marty and George about the Tunnel of Love.  Turns out the hobbit-like structures are the work of high school students’ work projects.  Apparently the assignment was something like “build a covered structure using only a chain saw”.  The old bus was dragged down into the woods by George’s grandfather, and at one time had bunks in it for all the grandkids to sleep.

Marty told us about trails across the valley from us to the west.  Pretty complicated instructions about turns, but we were confident we knew where to start (which turned out not to be the case for the Tunnel of Love).

We look forward to next year’s caroling.

Peg (and Todd)