with a little "lilt"

I'm taking a little break from work because as the old year winds down, grant application deadlines pick up. I'm swamped! Hopefully, we will win a few and lose less. The theatre has been incredibly busy which is good. It has been snowing here ALL DAY LONG. There is not much more accumulation because when you spit in the ocean, it's kind of insignificant. That is how our snow works here. We have enough on the ground, and the roads just keep piling to the side. It's old news. We may take a ride to the mall tonight, because you can't start Christmas shopping soon enough, right? Oy. I'm in trouble. As Jerry's blog said, I am singing with the Irish Troupe from Iona, Sharon Springs, this Saturday. I am singing a song called the Wren, which is about the St. Stephen's day custom of killing a wren bird, carrying it around town on the head of a stick, collecting money for the bird's wake and funeral, and throwing the party with good and drinks. All because Celtic Mythology believed that the wren bird was responsible for "giving away" the Celtic Warriors to the Viking enemies by making noise and ruining their secret attack. So now, the "wren boys" make a nice little game of killing the bird on St. Stephen's day and parading the carcass around town. And we thought video games were harmful. Nice tradition eh? Anyhow, this song that I'm singing has "lilting" in it, which is sort of an irish scat. Not alot of people were willing to take it on, and to me, that just meant the challenge. So I got it after much practice, and will be singing with the dancers on Saturday. Singing with the irish dancers is like walking and chewing gum at the same time - evryone has a different beat and pace. Kind of scary. But what the hell. . . I love the irish dancers and I will be at the show anyway! We have a big weekend coming up, and next week is all out crazy. But it's all good. I saw an Amish buggy passing down Route 30A this morning. It was a roofless buggy with two men in it. I think the roofless buggies are kept for "courting" couples, and probably used as the second buggy if Mama and the kids are out in their buggy. Kind of like an Amish station car-not the one anyone wants to use. Well, they had a vinyl coverlet snapped on, sort of like a rain barrier that you might see on a child's stroller, only big enough to cover the two men with just their heads poking out. The horse was a little "skittish" as the snow squall was kind of windy and traffic was a little heavy at that moment. The whole thing looked a little precarious to me, so I was kind of holding my breath there and watching this all take place. It just made me realize how grateful I am for selter, heat and Jeep! Currier and Ives is lovely, but cold. Brrrrrrr.