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11/26/2004: "Silent Night?"

Tonight my friend who lives up the road came over to see if I wanted to go to the lighting of the Douglas Christmas tree. She is the only person I've invited up to see what I've been working on and I was pretty nervous about it. I've been working in a bubble for weeks now with no feedback and I have no idea if this stuff is any good.

As we walked up the stairs to my "studio" I implored her to remember that these were all works in progess and they'd look a lot better when they're finished. She seemed to like the pieces overall and had some nice things to say but then on the walk (a block away) to where the tree was being lit, she said "I thought it was going to be a lot worse". Hmmmm, how to interpret that?

As for the tree lighting, they had little tents set up and had pipers playing christmas carols out in the rain. Let me tell you something, you ain't heard nuttin till you've heard "Silent Night" on the bag pipes (For some reason bagpipes are very big here, especially for anything requiring a touch of ceremony). The pipers practice across the street from me, indoors, and even with my windows shut I can hear them easily. Man, that sound can carry.

They were also serving free baked goods with hot cider or cocoa. Did I ever mention I took bag pipe lessons when I lived in Anchorage? I had to stop because it seemed to aggravate my arthritis but it was fun while it lasted (and no, I haven't purchased the quilter's gloves yet Holly, but soon)

I looked around and saw Frank, my mechanic whose shop is across the street from the church, his nephew who was in my LS110 class several semesters ago, Pat (the owner of Louie's Bar next door to me) who did the officiating...I just had this moment where I realized how many of the people in the crowd I knew. It was a very "Stars Hollow" moment for me, but I liked it.