I hope you are able to find the few “real posts” that are peppered between all these fabulous holiday gift ideas I have been posting recently on the blog.

Recently, I had the opportunity to perform with my choral group on the Dallas classical radio station, 101.1 WRR. We sang live at the Adolphus Hotel in Downtown.

The station invited their listeners to come down to the Adophus to provide a small audience for our music, which led me to wonder: “What sort of radio listeners are going to come to Downtown in the middle of a normal work day to hear this random choir that they could otherwise hear broadcast live to the comfort of their own cars and homes?”

My answer came in the form of a group of ladies I’ll call Louise, Ellen, and Thelda. That’s not their real names, but there they were, peacocking their way into the Adolphus living room like they owned the place. They are Dallas’ “tea drinking” elite. They are older ladies, in their 50s to 70s, who dressed in their special Christmas sweaters and came down to the Adolphus to enjoy an afternoon of tea and coffee with biscuits and live snooty choral music.

Thelda and Louise got there forty-five mintues early and saved a place for Ellen, who could only make it a half an hour early. They were first to pounce on the free confections and beverages when they were placed out by the Hotel staff, and were sure to negotiate the best seating in between where the choir would be singing and where the radio host would be announcing.

Something was ultra-special about these three ladies. Their sweaters were not just the simple red or green holiday sweaters… No. They were the specialized holiday Doo-dad sweaters. The ones with bells, ornaments, or real beard hair hanging off the front, back or sides. Those sweaters sat there and not only invited Holiday cheer, they demanded it!

I don’t know where these sweaters come from, or how they seem to make it through from year to year. They must go into some kind of absolute zero storage in order to hold their life from year to year.

Perhaps most of us had our first interaction with the Holiday doo-dad sweater when we were in elementary school. To be a fun teacher, teachers have to look fun. They sport button covers, pins, and other lovely adornments throughout the year, but at Christmastime they break out the dreaded doo-dad sweaters. The children think they are wonderful and entertaining. (…I loved it when Mrs. Wheeler jingled all the way down the hall…) I now understand that they are simply using these acutramon to keep sharp weapons close at hand, shrouded in a display of holiday cheer, to defend themselves against the germ-ridden, snot nosed students. They also probably received the sweaters as gifts, and are wearing them only because their Aunt Selma gave them the ugly thing.

In any case, Louise, Ellen, and Thelda had a wonderful time at the concert, drank their tea, ate their sweet biscuits, and hobnobbed with the other WRR Classical Listeners.

I will never forget you wonderful ladies.