Night of a Thousand Candles 2008

So every year brings something new and unexpected at Nights of a Thousand Candles.  This year was no exception.  Our holiday season gets more and more crowded with activity, but this is one I just cannot let go.   It is just too precious.  Last year, it rained, and there were soggy bags.   The year before that it was freezing cold.  This year, it was unseasonably warm -- almost muggy.  Lots of visitors were there in shorts, short sleeves, etc.  For me, personally, it makes it a little harder to be festive, but, oh, well. . . .The environment was no less engaging, and you just can't control the weather.  This year, soggy bags were replaced by plastic ones.  Now, I don't mean to wax sentimental or old-fashioned, but there's just something not quite right about luminary bags made out of plastic.  My husband laughed at me because he perceives that I complained about the soggy bags, and now I complain about the plastic bags because they can't get soggy.  I TRIED to explain to him that it was not the sogginess, but the ability to be soggy that was endearing.  He doesn't really understand.  It may be a man thing or perhaps I am just incredibly fickle, indecisive, and hard to please.  Which might make it a woman thing :~0

At any rate, it was another beautiful evening.  There's never enough time to enjoy all the music, but it was a pleasant surprise to walk past the bagpiper along the candlelit paths this year.  And while I didn't enjoy the warmer temperatures, I thought the nude sculptures in the garden were probably not as uncomfortable as in years past.  We especially enjoyed Vocal Edition (as always -- they are standbys!)  and a new group -- a brass quintet (Market St Brass?)  They were incredibly adept and fun to listen to.  The "leader" and first trumpeter lived up to trumpets' reputation for being a little full of himself, but all in good fun, and they were GREAT to listen to! My hearing of the Biblical account of the Christmas story will forever be colored by the Gullah version we heard, which was wonderful!  We ended the evening, as we regularly do, with Rocky Fretz and his bassist, Patrick O'Leary.  It just seems a fitting end.  Rocky always manages to make us feel like his friends -- sharing little tidbits of his life (this year, it was his 50th birthday jumping-out-of-airplanes story. . . check it out on YouTube.)  But most of all, it's the evident friendship and mutual appreciation between him and Patrick and the sheer joy they glean from doing what they're doing.  It must be a nice way to make a living -- hanging with a friend and playing music you love.  One thing is for sure, it is hard to sit in his audience and not smile and be filled with joy -- at Christmastime or anytime.  And if there's one thing the world could use more of, it's joy!   And, if there's one Christmas venue I am thankful for, it is Nights of a Thousand Candles, and whether the candles be real fire or not, white or colored, and the bags paper or plastic, I hope the candles continue to burn and that we're able to share the joy it brings with others for MANY years to come!