The Season of But(t) Thanks is upon us! That is to say, it’s Advent, and therefore Messiah season! This is, of course, opposed to the Season of But(t) Dust (Ash Wednesday/Lent). Which is also Messiah season, of course, just different bits of Messiah. Still!

As a church musician, the But(t) Seasons (Advent and Lent) are my absolutely favorites, and not only because I get to make puerile jokes about them. The music is incredible. I mean, obviously, Christmas music is great! I love that, too! But Advent lets us musically revel in the darkness of the season as well as the joy. It’s a privilege to be a musician in Advent, because I get to do stuff like this!

• December 1: Advent Procession of Lessons & Carols, All Souls’ Point Loma
• December 2: 7th Annual Christmas Brass & Organ Concert (w/SACRA/PROFANA)
• December 8: Annual Messiah Sing  (with San Diego Master Chorale)
• December 13 & 15: A Holiday Concert (with SACRA/PROFANA)
• December 17: Caroling at O’Brien’s Pub at 7:00 pm (singing AND playing guitar!)
• December 24: Christmas Eve at All Souls’ Point Loma (Britten’s Ceremony of Carols!)

And those are just the things I know about now! Despite how much fun I had with the last-minute gigs I picked up last year, I will try to keep things sane, difficult as that may be for me. Getting sick in the midst of beaucoup de singing commitments is no fun. I will take pains to remember to eat, sleep, and wash my hands frequently and hope for the best.

While all of this December singing means that I probably won’t be producing large numbers of words this month, I did successfully start and finish writing a short story for a friend, which ended up being about 12K words long. So take THAT, self-doubt: I do, in fact, remember how to write fiction! I’m also mulling over lyrics on liturgical themes for a couple of composer friends, and contemplating setting a writing goal for 2020. Spoiler: this goal will probably not involve writing a sonnet every day, but turning my 2011 NaNoWriMo project into the book that has been persistently occupying a corner of my brain ever since might be a good goal, don’t you think?

Warm Wishes of the Season(s) to All!