Day 4 - 356 -- Relaxing Music

Another day filled with errands and work is almost over. For the first official day of winter, the day lived up to expectations. It was cold. Even with sun visible, there was snow in the air most of the day -- just dancing in the air and not really falling anywhere. At noon I braved the grocery store to get 4 of the 6 things on my list. The place was a madhouse. The parking lot had people driving in their own invented lanes without any thought whatsover. A radio DJ from home used to tell people to drive carefully since the bozo factor was high. Today was one of those days. I parked in the mall lot and walked back over to the grocery store. That seemed less stressful than trying to circle with the other folks all looking for the same empty spot.

The rest of the afternoon involved working on files for the course and lab websites. I'm hoping to take some time away from that over the next few days. There are many household and holiday things to do instead -- baking, letters and final house decorating still to be done. Then I just want to rest -- watch a movie or two, read a book that isn't for work, and visit with friends. Pulling back from work that is all consuming isn't easy to do. Our world seems to be filled with work requests and expectations that take most of one's waking hours. Granted, some of those expectations are from inside and not external demands. Those are the ones that seem most difficult to abandon -- well at least without replacing them with guilt. <smile>

Tonight I want to rest and get a good sleep. It may take some relaxing thoughts and sounds to get to that point. This thought brought to mind a song that I heard for the first time earlier this month. It was sung by our community chorus. I recall being struck by the beauty of the melody and the words -- as well as the delightful voices in the solo and chorus parts. I had to hunt about to find an online version (not many actual recordings available) but I did find one that has a great voice -- gives me goosebumps. Enjoy!

Christmas Angel -- (by Corlynn Hanney) performed by Quintessential Vocal Ensemble, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador