Bah! Humbug!

There's one thing about celebrating Christmas early as I did in London this year. The pace of the crowds was good, service was good, and the mood had that needed edge of anticipation. I just came back from shopping in some old haunts in Columbia. I am exhausted. When buying soap at Stein Mart, I was in a short line, and no one behind me. The cashier took my money, handed me a bag, and said in a loud voice "Next customer please..." Summarily dismissed, I barked.."Merry Christmas and Thank You". No reaction. Wandering on to the Fresh Market, I entered in hopes of finding my favorite cheese, being La Roule, a goat cheese flown over from France. They have not had it in stock the last two visits, even though they placed a enticing picture in their Christmas Catalog. So there it was, but packaged in huge blocks, large enough for a family of 10. I asked a helper if they had smaller packages as they use to have. She referred me down the line, and the Mistress of Cheese barked, rather unpleasantly, "Well, How much do you want". She procceded to slice it in half, and gave off the air of "Her Majesty's Displeasure". I flopped it in my bag, and went back into the frey. I kept running into a nice lady with a cane, who was making rather good progress. She had watched the performance, and we got to talking in the row with the pancake mixes, which was rather busy. We discussed the downfall of simple manners, went on to settle most of the world's problems, and finished up with a conversation about the Vienna Opera, which we found we had both attended. She was from Austria, and told a charming story of getting two seats for the re-opening of the restored opera house after the II World War. Her husband had no suitable clothing, so the waiter at their hotel lent him one of his set of tails. Off they went to an historic occasion. That made me stop and think. Civil Communication is the only means of survival today. My new friend and I decided not to march on Washington, but go to our respective homes and have a cup of tea. Merry Christmas, One and All!

Christmas Season in London

I have to hand it to the English. They are so tough, it often appears to us, but anything below 32 degrees is considered life threatening these days. They are becoming quite soft it would appear, after 10 days in London walking the streets and riding the buses. Agreed, they supposedly have a moderate climate. But the past few years have seen record heat and record cold. Does that mean the tropics are getting colder and the artic is getting hotter?. Now there is the theory that it will get alternately hotter and colder, and finally settle on hotter. The English are ill-prepared for snow, even in the North and Scotland, where some places had two feet.

There is a new society for the preservation of all things ENGLISH, called The Society of St. Goerge. I have now attended three excursions sponsored by them, and they are a jolly rum group. The necessity of such an organization stems from the fact that its all referred to today as UK. UK this, UK that. The ENGLISH are up in arms, afraid they will lose their special identity. The President of this group even approached your's truly to write a song they could sing at their gatherings. Now that did take me off my heels...a Patriot being asked to do such a thing. My friends said "He thinks you are the OTHER JOHN ADAMS" That rather took the glow off, after already deciding the anthem should end with "ENGLAND< ENGLAND< ENGLAND!"

To get back to basics, I did so enjoyed the Royal Opera presentation of Cilea's rarely done "Adrienne Lecouvreur", a picture postcard version of this verismo classic. Another highlight was A Ceremony of Nine Lessons and Carols presented by my club at St. James Church, Piccadilly. Being a music based organization, ROSL is able to draw up extensive talent from their pool of prize winners. It was moving and exceedingly well done.

Lots of taxi rides blunted the extreme cold. Once I got stuck in a traffic jam that crawled along for hours it seems. I told the driver I was going to run out of money. He said."Just pay me what you've got Mate". A rare occurance. If you tip generously they always say..."You are a fine gentleman!" Tip often and generously!

The other joy was meeting the young Scottish mezzo soprano Laura Kelly, who holds the John Kenneth Adams Scholarship this year at the Royal Academy of Music. She is petite, dynamic, and utterly charming. She gets to create a role in a new opera to be done this Spring by Peter Maxwell Davies. Alas, I can't be there, but she is obviously well on her way.

So now I am a known quantity to the doormen at the Ritz, next door to us. I get a laugh each time I walk by, especially the sight of the dust pan they keep by the service door....a battered piece of equipment on which is scrawled in white paint..Prop of Ritz Hotel. Perhaps in case I decide to whisk it away someday!