Yesterday’s carol singing at the church sounded fabulous as it always does!  And I don’t think it was just the acoustics, although almost every musician who comes to Oysterville to play or sing in that little historic building comments on the wonderful quality of the sound.  But, truly, there is something about the community getting together – neighbors, friends, strangers – and singing those old, familiar songs that makes me misty-eyed.  And I know I wasn’t the only one!

If we are lucky, we’ll get to see ourselves – maybe on YouTube or someplace similar. (Is YouTube a place???) The photographer had set up his video equipment right in front of the pew where Gretchen Goodson and I were sitting.  What he saw, we saw.  (Later, I learned that he is Robert Leamy and has a shop called Impressing Ideas at the Surfside Mall – www.Impressingideas.com. )

He had the advantage, though, of being an itinerant filmmaker – itinerant in the wandering-through-the-church-during-the-program sense.  He walked to the front and looked back at us.  He moved over to the Sunday school room where the Bayside Singers sat and filmed them head on.  He zoomed in. And out.  And panned.  And undoubtedly made other technical maneuvers beyond my ken.

And, several times, I just stopped singing altogether so I could immerse myself in the ambience of it all.  I can’t help but wonder how I’ll feel about the video if ever I do get to see it.  There are some things that are simply more than the sum of their parts and, sometimes, you just had to be there.  I’m glad I was!