50 Days: Bells- Jingle Bells

Bells! Jingle Bells! This posting is dedicated to the sound that permeates every child’s mind on Christmas Eve. 

"On Christmas Eve, many years ago, I lay quietly in my bed. 

I did not rustle the sheets. 

I breathed slowly and silently. 

I was listening for a sound- 

a sound a friend had told me I'd never hear- 

the ringing bells of Santa's sleigh. 

"There is no Santa," my friend had insisted, 

but I knew he was wrong."

(excerpt from The Polar Express)

I love that quote from The Polar Express (the book). It is so wonderful in portraying the feelings of a child whose conflicted about Santa because they grew up thinking one thing and then find at a certain age, that everything you believed in Santa was wrong. It seems to me like that age is around 2^nd or 3^rd grade.

I never grew up with Santa being a big part of the holiday season and so I never really had this conflicting issue. Santa was not denied in our household, but not hyped up either.

I love the sound of bells, it is just one of those sounds of the season that always remind me of that special time of year.

When I think of bells, I also think of that wonderful song- Carol of the Bells. I love singing that song in choirs. It is certainly a sound that sounds the best in a huge choir rather than just a quartet.

If you have not hear the song in a while, go find it on iTunes or YouTube. It is amazing. I was at a Christmas Concert a few years ago at Summit High School and they had/have?  a tradition of singing Carol of the Bells to end their Christmas Concerts and invite any alumni to stand with them and sing as well. It was pretty neat to hear. For me, that song is a classic.

And of course, to end, I must also talk about Jingle Bells. What a classic song.

 “Oh, what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh.”  

I don’t know about you, but I have actually not had that experience of riding in a one-horse open sleigh. Bummer huh. Perhaps I need to visit a Connecticut Christmas-type village during the season to actually experience that. If you know of a place in Central Oregon that has Sleigh rides, please let me know.


48 Days until Christmas! I'll be Jingle Belling all the way (and I hope I get to experience a One-Horse open sleigh at some point in my life.)