This is the time of year when music like that of Christmas Carols are prevalent. The thing is that they are not the same as when we were young. I trust that most of you recognize that if Bing Crosby, Perry Como, Frank Sinatra and a few others were young today nobody would have the vaguest idea who they were. For example, have you heard some of the renditions of “White Christmas” by today’s artists? Nothing like old Bing’s I can tell you. Thus, if Bing or the others were trying to get gigs not only to sing carols, but anything they would have one difficult time. Perhaps, they might be accepted at some senior centers or even at one of The Villages’ downtowns. I mean, you would be able to understand what they were singing and it wouldn’t hurt your ears. No way that would merit say an appearance on one of the late-night shows! I supposed they could give up singing and just shout above the music – but then they would not be Bing, Perry or Frank. Alas!
It is the same thing when it comes to dancing. Many years ago, it was “hands on” dancing. You pulled your girl next to you and you did a nice waltz around the floor while holding her tight. I will admit that I could never waltz, but I did do a relatively decent two step. It was the same thing as you held on to your girl. Even if you jitterbugged, you didn’t let go of her. Today, it is “hands off” dancing.
If you notice videos and even a few movies where they have dancing, the folks on the floor are all jumping up and down never touching their partner. Maybe they don’t know where he/she is? That would not surprise me as the music is so loud that I am certain they could easily lose someone. You could shout, “Louise, where are you?” until you are hoarse, but she would never hear you. In fact, she might be on the other side of the dance floor jumping up and down next to Handsome John, while you notice that Wallflower Yvonne is next to you. I can not explain the present young generation, but from an unbiased standpoint, I have to vote for the “hands on” dancing.
Finally, there is the Christmas tree. Way back everybody would get a real tree.
You would search the lots for “The” tree – or if you lived out in the country or could get there you would chop one down. There were also Christmas tree farms where you searched for one, and the owner would cut it down. ou would then tie it on your car and hope that you made it home with the tree still there. Quite often the tree would look different once you got it home. This is particularly true if you lived in a very cold climate. I remember once the Blonde in the House and the kids (as well as me) were living in Minnesota. We went out to a farm, about froze to death, and decided that we would take the first acceptable looking tree we could find. We got it home and found that it had a severely curved trunk at the bottom. We eventually were able to make it stand straight, although I am not certain how! It is true that there were problems with real trees, especially when you took them out to the street after Christmas and there were needles all over the place. However, most people today just buy an artificial one made out of environmentally poor plastic which comes very nicely packed in a tight box. It is obvious that most people do not take their expensive plastic tree to the street and leave it. No sir! Instead, they have to pack it back in the nice tight box in which it came. There are certain things that do not come true as part of the Christmas season. One of them is getting the tree back into the box the way it came. If one is lucky, it is stuffed in somehow. Then, you have to find a place to store it where it will take up valuable storage space that could be used for something else. Perhaps, needles aren’t a bad thing after all!
I think I will find a real Christmas tree, and take The Blonde there. Then we will dance slowly around it as an old Perry Como Christmas album plays!
Villager Barry Evans writes about “Life in The Villages” for Villages-News.com.
