The Fifth Day of Christmas

My true love gave to me: Five Golden Rings

Sunday morning came woefully early. Forest's athsma has been irritated by something lately, and I know he didn't get much sleep. Due to another few inches of snow, however, the usual breakfast with Forest's family was postponed until noon, and we got to sleep in a bit. Forest was up and around earlier than I was, however, doing the shovelling so we could get out of the driveway. I really admire his fortitude in that regard. He never complains, just picks up the shovel and starts working. It's a big job, but he doesn't seem to resent it. I respect that.

We ended up a few minutes late at breakfast because the roads were still nasty. There was only a half lane open from Eaton Rapids to Lansing; I think the snow plow guys have just plain given up at this point. There is noplace left to put all that snow. It has also been very windy, and the snow has been drifting a lot. I would say that in my relatively protected backyard we have nearly 2 feet of snow. In my front yard, it covers my porch on one end. It's really quite impressive and beautiful; if only I got to just stay home and stare at it, instead of being out in it. I have to admit that I was a bit grouchy at breakfast after such a rotten drive; knowing full well that I would have to go into downtown Lansing, which is always a mess, and play another silly concert for another tiny crowd, because no one in their right mind goes out in weather like that.

All the way to St. Mary's Cathedral I was trying to cheer myself up. I sang Christmas carols, and promised myself that this was the last bell concert of the year (which it was). All would be well. By the time I arrived at the Cathedral I had at least mounted a grim determination to get this over with, and a relatively convincing smile for all to see. It's a benefit of being an actress in my spare time. You learn to really make yourself 'feel' the way you want to feel. You think of things that make you feel that way, and slip yourself into it. That way you're not 'pulling' faces, but actually beaming forth a whole false emotion from the inside out. It's pretty cool. So the whole time I was at St. Mary's Cathedral, smiling and joking with everyone about the snow, I was really capturing the feeling of a ticklefight with Forest on the beach. When it got hard to draw on that, I was instead telling myself jokes, and making rhymes out of people's names.

Happily, once the concert started, I was actually diverted enough to drop the acting. The cathedral was huge, and had at least a 4-second reverberation. The sounds in there were ghostly and beautiful. We were playing with a vocal choir, who sang some pieces I knew from my choir years; and they sounded completely different echoing off all that marble and that 3+-story vaulted ceiling. Handbells are a challenge in a room like that, because they naturally have alot of reverb, and in a place like that, you hear the note that you just played quite a bit later, after the sound has bounced back to you off the ceiling and back wall. It's incredibly difficult to stay together. We did a good job, though, and I must say that the effect of all those bells in that cathedral was stunning, and it was worth the 2-hour sit on a non-padded wooden pew to hear it.

As soon as the concert was over, I bolted for the door, and picked Forest up. We were fairly determined to decorate our tree that evening; but decided to stop and see a movie on the way home. We had plenty of time, and wanted to see the new Helen Hunt movie. I love her; she's my idol in the acting world. She's got great comic timing, but can also play a wonderful dramatic character with lots of depth. I admire her flexibility. I once saw her play Viola in 'Twelfth Night' at the Lincoln Center (no, I'm not rich, I saw it on PBS) and was blown away by it. I've seen everything she's done since.

I digress. The movie was really funny, and touching, and good. Forest and I laughed all the way through, and came out in a very happy, romantic mood.

Unfortunately, athsma was getting the better of Forest, and by the time we got home, he was pretty much exhausted just from the effort to breathe. I didn't push the decorating idea after that; he wasn't up for it, and I didn't even want to suggest it. I ran out and picked up some ice cream for us, and sent him to steam in the hot bath for a couple of hours while I read in the living room. The steam helped a bit, but he was still exhausted from lack of sleep and air. So we hit the sack without decorating anyting; but hoping against hope that we'd be able to do it Monday night.

In a moment of utter happiness on our way to bed, I blurted, "Never stop loving me, okay?"

Forest nodded a little, and said, "I don't think I could."

Isn't that sweet?