The Family Choir

The random mind of a Googie--or at least this Googie--is a thing that makes people scratch their heads. 

Who knows why I decided this would be a fun thing to do on Christmas Day?  At any rate, as I was packing the box to go to son Teebo's with a spiral-sliced ham, a potato casserole, and a couple of jars of home-canned green beans, I threw in the sheet music to "Silent Night."

My idea was that after lunch, we would gather around the piano, I would play, and the voices of our family would blend into a one-of-a kind rendition of this beloved old Christmas hymn.  Once shared, it would become a Christmas-Day blessing, captured on my iPhone by a production crew consisting of my mom and son Teebo--to my Facebook friends and their families.

To my credit, it was not that far-fetched an idea.  Daughter Cookie and her husband are professional music educators.  My brother and his wife have been the bass and alto voices in a gospel quartet.  My sister-in-law is indebted to her mom, who joins us for Christmas dinner, for the alto genes.  My own daughter-in law, Beenie's mom, is a former high-school show-choir standout and church musician.

The beautiful, blended vocals did not disappoint; they were what I expected.  But what I--and everyone else--did not expect was the contribution of three-year-old Pooh to the family choir.  Not knowing the words to the hymn, Pooh was content to "la-la-la" his way through the song.  Indeed,  his little "la-la-las" can be heard during pauses and even over the rest of the choir at selected spots throughout the song.  Because of this, our family choir debut is, on one hand, inspirational, and on the other hand, hilarious.

We did not intend to rehearse the performance, but when my mom had a little trouble operating the iPhone video feature, it became apparent that a "Take 2" would be necessary with son Teebo joining the camera crew.  Although Pooh remained quiet the first time through, that was not the case in the version you see on the video.  By then he had figured out what was gong on, and was more than primed to embellish our performance in a way that only he could have done.

I am not posting the video here on the blog because I have not yet figured out how to get it onto here from my phone in a way that works.  But if you are or wish to become my Facebook friend, you can see it posted on my timeline for Christmas Day 2012.  If you are like me, you will not be able to watch it with a straight face, especially toward the end where Pooh's "la-la-las" become especially resonant and the rest of us can barely keep from cracking up.

His pitch is perfect.  He can carry a tune.  His timing--well--that is what makes our family Christmas choir debut genuinely unique.  That, and his enthusiasm (read volume). 

Certainly, none of us expected our family choir debut to be upstaged by a three-year-old.  But perhaps we should have.  After all, this is the child who, only last year, was a mean mouse who tried to kill the Nutcracker when, by mistake, he ventured out onto the stage a little prematurely. 

Pooh's unanticipated antics notwithstanding, I find our family rendition of "Silent Night" charming.  I hope you do as well.  And if you are a talent scout and want to sign Pooh up for stage or screen, just send me a Facebook message and I'll hook you up.