The time of year

In Safeway it's been Christmas for a little while already.  At the end of October, there was a distinct feeling of dissonance as imported Hallowe'en "traditions" vied for aisle space with way-way early Yuletide goods. But now it's just back to the pre-emptive flogging of festive paraphernalia.  This is that odd time of the year, where we're stuck between seasons.  Summer has arrived -- at least psychologically -- since the Melbourne Cup was run.  People are beginning to see that the end of the year is near, and in a week or two the end-of-year break-up party round will be starting up.

If you sing in a choir, then you'll most likely be getting into the swing of knocking off the easy bits of your coming carols services and other December commitments.  I've been practicing carols with a couple of choirs lately, although things only seem to start coming together after the racing carnival is done.  This year I only have to worry about getting the performance of a few things to work well, rather than generating the structure for the whole shebang, as has happened in the last few years.

The hardest task in any carol for most choirs is remembering that there are vowels in the phrases below.  Best to practice it nice and s l o w l y...