Like all good crescendos Christmas begins quite a long way before the actual time of the loudest part. As any good musician knows, it is wise not to peak too soon otherwise you are left with nowhere to go. I am a little concerned that Christmas has arrived before I was ready for it. We held our Christmas Tree Festival at our church this last weekend and all of a sudden I have 2 concerts on consecutive days looming up on me and so far I haven’t even thought about any Yuletide preparations. Indeed, my granddaughter asked me on Saturday if we could put up the Christmas tree and I had to confess I had no clue where it was. Maybe I am leaving the crescendo too late, but somehow my instincts tell me I am not. I am a great believer in pacing myself and sometimes that means being left a little behind. The tinsel and bling of the commercial Christmas is not my thing, but I must confess that I enjoy seeing the excitement and awe in children. The world is a wonder-full place if we care to stop and look at it. Children in their innocence still possess that unsullied joy of life which, when set against the backdrop of Christmas, brightens up an increasingly dark world. We musicians are fortunate to be the soundtrack to that joy, and although we may be trotting out the old tunes yet again, let us not loose sight of the fact that for the little ones the magic is fresh and new and we can relive that joy and wonder through them.