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Tuesday, November 16, 2010

God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen

I've mentioned that Ed and I are going to be King and Queen of the Christmas Festival at Wonder Valley for four performances this year. Tonight is our first show. And lest you think that this is serious theatre....here are the rewritten words to the opening song (yes, I've changed the words to all of my songs, but you only have to read this one). It's even got a Three Stooges word in it...see if you can find it.

(sung to the tune of, you guessed it, God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen)


God rest ye merry, Gentlemen,

And Ladies here today,

We’ve got a pretty tale to tell

And instruments to play

We’ve even got a magic man

His talents to display

O talents of wonder to deploy,

His name is Roy,

O talents of wonder to deploy.


The cook and all the kitchen maids

Have slaved since Sunday morn

To steam and pluck and roast the duck

And shuck a ton of corn

To give you less than all their best

They each would surely scorn

O a dinner of wonder to indulge

You’re gonna bulge

O a dinner of wonder to indulge


King Whoozitz dressed in all his best

But I’m afraid you’ll find

His temper is a bit unsure

Around this Christmas time.

But look, here comes the housekeeper,

Perhaps she will exploin

O we all have to wonder why he’s mad,

Has he been bad?

O we wonder why the King and Queen are sad.


Thursday, November 4, 2010

Magic that Lingers

We've finally gotten our internet problems corrected. What a relief! I had no idea how dependent I'd gotten on being connected.....I'm not really sure if I'm comfortable with that idea!


Ed and I are going to be the King and Queen of a Christmas Festival at a local ranch this year. We’ll be wearing our Ren Faire costumes and presiding over a grand banquet with traditional entertainment: acrobats, a sorcerer (magician), musicians. I’ll be singing a few songs, and we’ll be acting out a sweet little tale of a child stolen away years before and found, of course, at the end of the banquet. We’ve already got five groups scheduled, with deposits. Yes, we’re getting paid to have fun – a win/win.

In preparation for these little theatrical dinners, I’m looking for pictures to turn into “stained glass” windows to transform the dining hall into a Grand Hall from the past. The story of our child stolen by the Wise Woman to teach a lesson to the ungrateful King (my always-appreciative Ed – such a funny role for him to play...Mr Grumpy-pants) – anyway…this story reminded me of George MacDonald’s very similar story of the Lost Princess. I took my copy to bed with me last night to see if there might be illustrations in it that I could use for the windows, and stayed up ‘til 2 reading the story again.

I’d forgotten just how magical a story could be. Not the magic that the characters might perform—the magic that happens in the reader when reading it. George MacDonald wrote several stories with this kind of magic: The Lost Princess, of course, Phantastes, At the Back of the North Wind, The Princess and the Curdie, Sir Gibbie….oh my…the list goes on and on.

There are books about heroes that make you admire the hero (like The Scarlet Pimpernel), there are heroic tales that fire the imagination and stir grand emotions (like Lord of the Rings), and there are books about heroes that make you want to emulate them (like Alcott’s An Old-Fashioned Girl – what? Polly wasn’t a hero, you say? Au contraire, I reply. Anyone who faces near-poverty with consistent cheerfulness, gratitude, and humor IS a Hero in my mind). Ahem….

Then, there are those rare books, seemingly simple stories—usually written for children—that you close reluctantly at the end, with a sigh and unfocused eyes, very aware of the slow withdrawal of that magic which has been so entrancing. And then finding that a bit of that magic has remained and calls your thought back to the truth in the story, again and again. This is the magic that George MacDonald spins so masterfully.

C. S. Lewis learned the magic from MacDonald and spun it out skillfully, too. It was from Lewis that I learned about MacDonald, and it is the two of them whom I want to emulate in my writing--not their plots or characters or style, but the sense of having glimpsed something better, wholesome, desirable...magical.