My Old Christmas Radio!
Posted: Friday, December 18, 2009
by Bob Alexander
http://www.bluemarlinbob.com
There's an old yellowed Philco plastic radio that rests on a tool shelf in my garage, only turned on during the weeks preceding Christmas. It has been with me for at least 40 of those holidays and belonged to my dad before that. It still sounds like the magical music box it was when I was just a kid and Santa's visit was a much more anticipated than it is today.
It is everyone's desire at times to go back to when times life was simpler and dreams were big enough to cover the whole world like a soft cotton blanket, especially at Christmas. That's what radio continues to do for me each Christmas season and for a few weeks lose myself in holiday cheer.
For some reason unknown to me, I prefer listening to music coming from that little plastic box while piddling around in my garage alone. Except for my cat Spike, who rarely stirs from his cushion on the shelf next to a gallon of red paint, no one disturbs the Christmas concerts played especially for me.
When I was quite young I would listen to a young disc jockey who visited me through that radio each night a week before Christmas. He was especially elegant when reciting stories about the coming holiday and would read passages from the Bible as well the poem, "The Night Before Christmas."
I don't recall seeing a white Christmas in all the time I've lived in Alabama, but I could see 'the moon on the crest of the new fallen snow' as clearly as if it was in my own front yard. It really didn't matter that I never saw one tiny flake on Christmas Eve, from that early poem; I always had a white Christmas.
Time passed and Brenda Lee was "Rocking Around the Christmas Tree" while Elvis had a "Blue Christmas" each winter. Rudolf still had his red nose and Frosty was resurrected each winter to the delight of kids everywhere; snow or no snow.
Over time that old tube model radio wound up in a box in my attic. I'm not sure how it got there, but when I turned it on, the sound was beautiful. Recalling how I would listen to it each evening before Santa's big night, I wait until after Thanksgiving to tune in to the old radio station where I heard my first Christmas stories decades ago.
Many of the songs I hear today are with new artists making many of the old standards their own but I prefer the old singers, many of whom have passed away, like Perry Como, Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra. Tony Bennett of course is still alive and singing his version of "Oh Come All Ye Faithful".
It's a balm for the soul to be able to spend a few minutes with singers of the past, crooning old Christmas carols and a few of the songs that traveled with you on your way through tricycles, bikes and finally '57 Chevys and Fords.
Usually by the time I've had my fill of holiday music for the evening, the programmer at the radio station will queue up "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer". I know then that it is time to call it a night.
Bob Alexander is well experienced in outdoor cooking, fishing and leisure living. Bob is also the author and owner of this article. Visit his sites at:
http://www.homeandgardenbob.com
http://www.redfishbob.com
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