Friday Pops

I threw a bit of a curve ball at Friday yesterday. Despite my absolute devotion to my usual Friday routine which has served me so well in the past I decided to change things up. Rumor has it that I missed my wife while she was on grandmother watch out in LaLa Land, just a rumor mind you. To welcome her home I made reservations for dinner in a downtown restaurant and then tickets to the Hanover Theater to see the Boston Pops holiday show. I think I may have underestimated how impressed she would be with the effort.

Wife With Chosen Attire

I did manage to sneak in a couple beers at Brew City for First Friday because, well, I didn’t have to abandon all of my Friday routines and that one always entails the most fun. . Cool thing I’m learning about the internet – you can make dinner reservations that way. (Okay – I know I’m hopelessly late to technology – stop snickering – I know who you are). I learned a valuable lesson in making dinner reservations in Worcester for Friday night – don’t wait until Friday morning. My wife has one restaurant she likes above all others but they only had tables available at 4pm and 9pm which wasn’t going to work. I emerged a hero from the effort when I received an email as I was departing Brew City that confirmed a dinner reservation at Leo’s Ristorante, which just happened to be a few door down from Brew City itself, although well-hidden back amongst some parochial school remnants.

At Leo's

I returned home to find my wife in full modeling mode as she tried on several dresses and sought out my opinion. I hadn’t had enough beer to fall into that trap. I will say that the dress she did end up with was stunning, of course that probably had more to do with the lady inside it.

Leo’s was a true delight. We hadn’t been there in several years but the food and service were excellent and the owner herself was wandering the floor insuring everybody stayed on their toes. There were the obligatory wandering Christmas carolers passing through soliciting donations for the needy, which was kind of cool.

Hanover Theater in Holiday Mode

Another valuable lesson I learned yesterday, do not take advantage of the offer of convenient parking when buying tickets to a show at the Hanover. It took me over twenty minutes to get from city hall to the parking structure, a distance I could easily throw a baseball. Apparently I wasn’t the only one who was duped into the parking tickets because the line stretched the entire length of Main Street. I eventually found a parking spot on the sixth floor of the structure and hurried down to the Hanover where I’d left my spectacularly attired Favorite Panamanian all the while dreading the eventual need to get out of the packed parking garage at show’s end.

As with anybody growing up in New England the Boston Pops enjoyed iconic status for me from the Arthur Fielder days through John Williams and eventually the current conductor Keith Lockhart. I’d never seen them in live concert but had seen dozens of their Christmas concerts on PBS, so this was a real treat for me. They didn’t disappoint.

View From Our Seats

There’s something special about a full orchestra seen live that can’t be replicated over the airwaves. All the little sounds in a song can be seen as the artists create them, it’s almost hypnotic to watch. The show immediately went for the heart strings and didn’t let go for more than two hours. All the familiar holiday songs were elevated by the Pops as well as the accompanying choir and standout soloist.

Lockhart at Work

We were a mixed crowd but the entire group was transported. A staid group of Worcesterites abandoned all hope of pretense and joined in singing Christmas carols together for the second half of the show. It wasn’t forced or even encouraged, it just happened. My favorite part of the show was the reading of Clement Clarke Moore’s classic poem, Twas the Night Before Christmas. The reading, done by none other than Mr. Fezziwig from an upcoming Christmas Carol play, was accompanied by the Pops in the background. I was sent back a number of years remembering the same poem being read by my grandfather, then my father, my mother and finally myself to my own children in a very drafty New Hampshire house on Christmas Eve.

I’m not the kind of guy who needs a lot of encouragement to get into the Christmas spirit but last night was Red Bull on steroids. I don’t think a single person left the theater without a smile on their face. Both my wife and I were wishing Merry Christmas to complete strangers even though I was dreading the garage exit.

Very Fun Date

That turned out to be no problem whatsoever as the higher floor occupants had the right of way exiting (I’m still never parking there again). A perfect ending to a perfect evening that only got better when we got home to the I-Pad summoning us to a FaceTime call with my granddaughter and her parents. (see pictures below to understand the depth of beauty we were exposed to) This was followed with a call to my sister, another well-known Christmas spirit junkie, where it was decided we would attend next year’s Boston Pops concert together. 

Grandpa's Taking me to that Concert Someday

I'll Just Hang out till Then

Mommy's a Great Pillow

Daddy Tries