Mailbag

It’s mailbag time, time to answer all those little stray questions from those who email us but have yet to bring themselves to venture a comment in the public eye, thinking that the public would not be interested in their queries (you never know, guys!).

The first note is from reader F., who asks, “Hey, guys, how’s life?”

Life, dear F., is just about the same here as it is anywhere else in November: cold, wet, and dark. The difference is that back home people are looking forward to Thanksgiving. Here, people are planning for Hogmanay. In the States, hard squashes are on display next to boxes of brown sugar, and the tops of all the pumpkin pies are leaf lattices. Here… well, yesterday we saw our first Christmas tree, and Friday we received our first Christmas… card.

(Previously the honor of The First Card, arriving directly after Thanksgiving Day, has been the provenance of L. and B. of Lafayette. They have been trumped this year by Mrs. E. M., from Pleasant Hill. We are baffled by how this could occur, as E. has just given birth (or is about to give birth?) to twins… thus bringing the number of children under age two in her home to — three — plus one very harried husband. We’re thinking E’s mom is staying with her right now. So, thanks for the card, E! [And thanks, E’s Mom!])

And now from reader B., who asks, “Are people still coming to choir rehearsal?”

Actually, B, they are! The numbers in our chorus swelled until we are nearly three hundred strong. This is not counting the orchestra, the other University group who will join us for the performance – there are about twenty of them – the soloists, the angels and all the people who require costume changes. This is a HUGE event, and two hours a week is apparently no sacrifice. Odd, isn’t it — especially since our choir only met for an hour a week for a month or so twice a year, and it was like pulling teeth just to get people to show up consistently or on time. The only conclusion we’ve come to is that music is different here — people socialize more by singing. People sing at football matches, in the pubs, randomly in public (okay, so, maybe that’s just our strange luck to encounter those people, but…) there’s tons of karaoke… so… I don’t know, maybe music is more important here in the land of bards. Or, it’s dark and cold and there’s nothing better to do… your call.

W. wants to know if we’re actually still attending church, or “enjoying a sabbatical.” We’re going, but none of the churches we’ve visited have …notes in their hymnals. This is probably intended to make the music more accessible to non note-readers, but sometimes for us it’s just plain bewildering. Never mind — the holiday season upcoming means that we’ll more than likely know at least half the songs at any given service for a full month at least. Meanwhile, we want you to know that we miss our church in P.H. — it will be interesting to come back after so many changes are being made. Hm!

Our next questioner is M., who asks if we’ve thought of anyplace special to go during Christmas break. Well, M., not yet. We’re considering Spain just because D. is fluent in the language and it would be somewhat warmer, but really, we may do a series of day trips during vacation and stick closer to home. Right now it’s hard to think any further than the day right in front of us. D. is working on Draft 2 of a major paper, and T. is disappearing under the stack of books she’s reviewing — both of us would love a vacation, but it’s one of those things that takes a bit of work to plan… and it’s all just too much to contemplate at the moment. Stay tuned, though; when the Light at the End of the Tunnel™ comes on, we’ll have all kinds of energy for making plans again.

From reader J: “Are you doing anything fun? And how’s T’s diet coming?”

Um.

Let’s draw a veil over the d-word, okay? Suffice it to say that T. is meeting her daily appointments with the high-pitched, shiny-happy-bouncy high-kicking cheerleader types on her DVD and she hates them. All. Deeply.

“How is D’s schooling coming, and how’s T’s writing going?” asks K. Things on the Legitimate Work front are going pretty well, considering. T is revising and waiting to hear from the editorial committee at Knopf about another project, but D. is steaming full steam ahead into the end of the semester. He’s doing a lot of scowling right now at his tutor’s comments in the margins of his essays, but he’s coming right along.

The Hobbits are fine — things are just a bit of a slog right now, but it’s that time of semester. As Thanksgiving approaches, we find ourselves feeling a little scattered — but thankful nonetheless for the opportunity which finds us here, for our friends who are sending books and cards and little notes, and for all the little things that keep us going.

– D & T

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