Carla and I have been really busy ringing this holiday season:
- Twelve hours at the Salvation Army kettle. One time our relief didn’t show, so we just stayed for an extra couple of hours… and on Christmas Eve we took both two-hour shifts. We decided that ringing the usual little bell wasn’t enough, so we took our own handbells and played our eight-bell duets. Reward: By the end of our Christmas Eve shifts, people were having a bit of difficulty stuffing money in the kettle!
- Two two-hour sessions ringing in the gift shop at the San Francisco Zoo’s “Zoo Lights” event. We had a wonderful time the first time, and even more fun the second time as people asked us about bells and how we ring them.
- Two hours at Macy’s in Sunnyvale, CA. This was just a kind of whim, and our friend Teri coordinated our visit with her manager. We were placed near one of the customer service desks, and so were in view and earshot of lots of people as they passed by. Teri noted that there was a lot of “stealth listening” going on. 😀
- Two of the Christmas Eve services at Los Altos United Methodist Church. We rang with the bell choir, and also added a duet at the 9:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. services. We love playing for the family at our home church.
- We also contributed to Immanuel Lutheran Church’s presentation at The Meadows (Los Gatos, CA).
So now… we’re going to relax for a few hours, and then we’ll get going on our other music!
Happy New Year, everyone!
