I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: PEARL JAM-“Someday at Christmas” (2004).

On December 2, Pearl Jam announced that their fan club holiday singles will be released to streaming services.  Their first holiday single was released back in 1991.  It was “Let Me Sleep (Christmas Time).” They are rolling out the songs one at a time under the banner 12 Days of Pearl Jam.

These releases are coming out as a daily surprise.

“Someday at Christmas” is a cover of the Stevie Wonder song.  I don’t know the original, but this version is a delightful Christmas song, one which I’m really surprised isn’t in regular Christmas song rotation.

The song is simple and catchy.  After a little guitar jingle of “I’m dreaming of a white Christmas” the songs moves fluidly along with some nice bass lines from Jess Ament.

The lyrics are really wonderful, too

Someday at Christmas men won’t be boys
Playing with bombs like kids play with toys
One warm December our hearts will see
A world where men are free

Someday at Christmas there’ll be no wars
When we have learned what Christmas is for
When we have found what life’s really worth
There’ll be peace on earth

After the first two verses the song moves up a note and there’s some nice wah wah guitars added in.  There’s no chorus, just a bunch of verses which plead for a peaceful Christmas time.

There’s a slightly downer note at the end, although the song remains ever optimistic and ends with the guitar line playing “I’m dreaming of a white Christmas, once again.”

Someday all our dreams will come to be
Someday in a world where men are free
Maybe not in time for you and me
But someday at Christmastime.

Now that it’s out in the ether, lets mix it in with the standard radio songs, eh?

[READ: December 3, 2019] “Save-A-Lot”

This year, S. ordered me The Short Story Advent Calendar.  This is my fourth time reading the Calendar.  I didn’t know about the first one until it was long out of print (sigh), but each year since has been very enjoyable.  Here’s what they say this year

The Short Story Advent Calendar is back! And to celebrate its fifth anniversary, we’ve decided to make the festivities even more festive, with five different coloured editions to help you ring in the holiday season.

No matter which colour you choose, the insides are the same: it’s another collection of expertly curated, individually bound short stories from some of the best writers in North America and beyond.

(This is a collection of literary, non-religious short stories for adults. For more information, visit our Frequently Asked Questions page.)

As always, each story is a surprise, so you won’t know what you’re getting until you crack the seal every morning starting December 1. Once you’ve read that day’s story, check back here to read an exclusive interview with the author.

Want a copy?  Order one here.

I’m pairing music this year with some Christmas songs that I have come across this year.

This story is by Anthony Doerr.  I thought I had read a lot more by him, but apparently I’m mostly just familiar with his name.  Which is a shame because this story is really enjoyable, even if it starts very dark.

The story is broken into fifteen numbered sections.

I was amused that the first one started “On the one hand there’s Bunny.”  We learn about Bunny’s life–she fled Texas at 17 and earned a nursing degree and a job in Bangor, Maine.  She is beloved at Woodlands Assisted and is so energetic, she is nicknamed The Prius: small, sensible, an a million miles to the gallon.

Then, when Bunny turned 22, Mike Ramirez impregnated her and fled for Tampa.  She keeps hearing her mother’s drunken voice–you’re as dumb as box of hair, you’re not worth spit.

But the baby, whom she names Hanako after the oldest elephant in the world, is very smart.  And Bunny is resilient.  She is doing okay.

Section two opens with “On the other hand there’s Alfred.”  Alfred is 70.  He and his wife own several rental places in Bangor.  They are content and successful.  Then Agnes falls asleep behind the wheel.  She and their dog, Carl,  are killed.  Arthur falls apart.

Part 3 brings us Bunny’s disaster.  She ruptured something in her neck while at work.  She has a spinal fusion and is given morphine.  After rehab she is back at work, but sluggish, fearful, timid, nothing like her old self.  Afternoons bring intense pain and she works in the right environment to take care of some of that pain.

Arthur is unwilling to give up Agnes’ things, to move on.  Bunny is incapable of giving up her addiction.  She winds up losing her nursing license, and her house.  She and Hanako move into an apartment.  An Apartment owned by Alfred.

One day Hanako is peering under the porch.  Alfred asks her what it is.  When he hears a scared animal he immediately hopes it is Carl, even though he knows it is not.  Hanako reveals that it is a raccoon kit, maybe one week old. Hanako pleads with Arthur that they must save it–it needs them.  Alfred agrees and they feed it fruits and milk.  Hanako names him Save-A-Lot, like Lancelot, only cheaper.

By section ten, Save-a-Lot is four pounds and his bites are leaving markers.  Alfred knows that they should get rid of him but it’s so hard when Hanaako is so devoted.  Alfred also remembers what his days were like before Hanako and the raccoon came into his life.

Sections 11 through 13 are where the action happens.  Bunny wakes up at 4AM in her car.  She vaguely recalls planning to buy drugs.  She goes home and Hanako is not there.  Nether is the raccoon.   She bangs on Alfred’s door but he hasn’t seen her since she left earlier.  Where could a girl and a raccoon have gone together?

I really enjoyed the way this story quickly made us care about these two (three people and then had their lives unravel.   They are brought together by fate, but not in a corny way.  And while the story doesn’t end with the raccoon magically saving them all, the story does end with a more realistic somewhat upbeat ending.

The calendar says, It’s December 3. Anthony Doerr, author of All the Light We Cannot See, would give a raccoon a donut if it looked at him right.