One of my favorite parts of the holidays is the music. It’s tried, true and traditional. It always lifts the spirits and usually we all know the words. OK, maybe just the first verse.

This was the case recently, coming back from The Snowshoe Adventure and I’d just realized, after a long 12-hour day and in the middle of the 3-hour drive home, I’d lost my wallet. I knew exactly where it was too. Back toward the mountains another hour or so.

But because my friends are eternally optimistic and were willing to drive back to retrieve it, we did just that. And someone cranked on the Around-The-Clock-Holiday-Music-Station to ease the mood. Soon, five people were competing for being the first to “name that tune” or “name that singer.”

As we were driving back through Enumclaw, one of my favorites came on, O’ Holy Night. It was a bit of a somber moment, making me realize that while life had been doing it’s best to pummel me into the ground lately, that very moment, squished in the car with a bunch of smelly outdoor lovers, made life seem OK. I didn’t want to be anywhere else or with anyone else.

Later in the week, I decided to try and instill some more upbeat holiday spirit in my house and invited friends over for a Cookie Baking Extravaganza. I pulled out the Christmas albums I grew up on, including the Cincinnati Pops, Rosemary Clooney, Charlie Brown, Robert Goulet and one of my favorites, Mel Torme.

Fresh off the snowshoe adventure, Mel’s songs about skiing at Sun Valley and a glimmering little Glow Worm made me excited to hit the hills again this weekend. I couldn’t help but shimmy a bit as I shoveled more fresh cookies in front of my crack decorating team…

“It Happened in Sun Valley:  (The Glenn Miller version, can’t find Mel’s version)

Glow Worm

So while there may be no honey to share the spill on the hill with these days (or will there be on Saturday?), Mel’s tunes will be swooshing down the slopes with me. If you get on a chair lift with me, I may sing you a few verses.