Professor Carol
Once again this year, several people have asked me if O Come, O Come Emmanuel would be a topic in the remaining days of the Advent Calendar. For many, this song stands apart as one of the most deeply moving of all carols. It’s certainly not … Read more
Tomorrow marks the first Sunday in Advent and the official beginning of our 2016 Advent Calendar. We are delighted with the warm reception you have given this calendar over the past years. It has become an important tradition for us as well. Not that long … Read more
Survival, not entertainment, once dictated what a child was taught. Sounds old-fashioned, doesn’t it? But the sentence resonates in our lives right now. Our three-year old granddaughter Patti has discovered the CD player! Yep, an old-fashioned, lightweight, metallic boom box that also sports a cassette … Read more
The season of preparations is upon us. Kitchens, craft tables, and party stores are bursting with action. Two recent and quite separate events have caused me to reflect even more on the drama of preparation. This past Saturday, a massive Tannenbaum was hoisted into the … Read more
Last week we posted our 101st “Friday Performance Pick.” Hank writes the bulk of these and spends a goodly amount of time seeking engaging performances to illustrate each entry. We often hear just how much people look forward to receiving these posts every week, using … Read more
Advent starts early this year: November 27. Here in Germany, we are just days away from the building phase of Weimar’s delightful Christmas Market. It takes a surprisingly long time to lay out the boards, brackets, and electric wiring that transform this quiet town into … Read more
Every port we visited this month, sailing from Venice to Lisbon, had a few shops decked out with American Halloween paraphernalia. Granted, none of them took it to the extremes of US stores—not yet! But you can see the power of global marketing making inroads. … Read more
Modern travel can be confusing, especially by ship. Ships are luxurious and convenient, but they don’t remain long in any given place. A ship may dock at 7:00 a.m., and by 8:00 guests are pouring off onto buses for organized excursions led by knowledgeable guides. … Read more
“What do monks do all day?” That question popped out casually from one of the men in our group. We stood at the top of the stairs at the Abbey of Monte Cassino. Leaving our cruise ship early, we’d bussed for ninety minutes through the … Read more
Saint Mark’s Basilica in Venice played an important role in music of the late Renaissance. Here Alessandro and Giovanni Gabrieli took advantage of the architecture by placing separate choirs of instrumentalists across from each other and thus pioneered a new antiphonal sound. Listen to my … Read more
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