The downside of public transportation.

When I was in high school, I played the Alto Saxophone, a habit that has long since gone by the wayside. I was never terribly good, but I loved being in band, so that's pretty much the only reason I played. My family has a long love affair with the Alto Sax. Three of my sisters played it, and one of my nephews is currently playing it. My younger sister and I had one year of high school together (I was a senior and she was a freshman), and one of our favorite songs to play was Leroy Anderson's "Sleigh Ride." See, my high school's band was very focused on football season (my town was very much a football town), so after Thanksgiving there was a mad rush to prepare for the Christmas concert, which meant that we played the same songs. Every. Year.

Among them was "Sleigh Ride," and it was hard.  The saxes had melody for once, and it basically took you two years to get comfortable with it, and another to master it, so by senior year you could actually play it without feeling overwhelmed. It starts off nice and proper, and then gets a little jazzy and sloppy and essentially awesome. When I hear the song, I can still hum the alto sax part because of the hours and hours I spent practicing.

Anyway, my younger sister and I have had a bit of a tradition for the last few years of calling each other anytime "Sleigh Ride" was on the radio and cranking up the volume so the other one can hear it. I'm not sure how it started, but it's pretty great. This year, I haven't been in my car... at all, really. So I never listen to the radio and therefore never hear "Sleigh Ride" blaring over the speakers so I can call my sister. Tonight I'm driving home for the holiday, and I probably won't hear the song then, either, so I'm posting it here as a virtual OMG-IT'S-SLEIGH-RIDE phone call to her!

Happy holidays!