Thoughts...on my Decorating Friends.

I sit here in my kitchen, snow falling outside, and missing my husband and eldest daughter as they are on the trek to Omaha to retrieve the van. The rental had to be returned yesterday by 1:30 and it's a 24-hour drive so they left bright and early Christmas morning. Hence a new "adult" Christmas tradition was born....opening presents on Christmas Eve.  It was very warm and cozy with a fire going, and I think I might vote for continuing doing things that way in the future.

I was just fooling around on Facebook and realizing that so many of the contacts that I have there are people I've met through the Christmas decorating community. Yes, it is known as a "community."   I know this might seem strange to people who are not part of it, but those folks who go crazy decorating their houses each year actually network on websites, forums and on Facebook. Many of them meet each other at expos, educational workshop days and weekends, and other fun events.  Decorating enthusiasts are part of a rapidly growing community devoted to the hobby of not only lighting your house for Christmas, but animating the lights through computer programs that are increasingly sophisticated. LUCKY LUCKY ME! I had already written the right song for this group of folks, and someone found it, and all of this had nothing to do with me promoting it or anything. It was out there on iTunes and other sites and had been available since 1998.  I'm just fortunate that the first decorator found it, and then it caught on.  I've had such a wonderful time getting to know so many great people that I made sure to write some new songs for them on the latest album. It's just a wonderful thing to see what they do with my music.  I'm really blessed by watching their videos and by the displays I've gotten to see in person.

I first found this community through one of the  very first "House on Christmas Street" videos that popped up on YouTube back in 2006...which led me to www.planetchristmas.com.  I signed up and introduced myself on one of the forums, and was greeted enthusiastically by the folks there. Since then my life has been enriched SO MUCH by being accepted into this group of amazing people. They are all over the world, and I am lucky to call many of them not just contacts, but FRIENDS.  

I've met them at conventions and at their houses. I've met hosts on my tour, and I've met other decorators who have come out to see me in concert on the tour.  Many I've only met online, but I feel like I know them just the same. They add fun and joy to my life, and a sense of support and encouragement.  And I am VERY grateful.  

I don't have an animated display, for the record, but I have done a good sized display for many years at my house, since before I wrote the song. I've ALWAYS loved outdoor Christmas decorations, since I was a little kid.  The thing that always "got" me was Santa on the roof.  However, at my house I have never been brave enough to get him up there. I did fall out a window once trying to jury-rig him so it looked like he and the reindeer were flying down from the roof. Luckily I fell into bushes.   Yup, it's me that does it...it's not Philip's "thing," although he has been helping these past few years.  I'll never get into synchronizing the lights...I just don't have the time or the smarts or the patience.  But I do love my blow molds!

Anyhow, like any other community, people have differences, but I am fortunate that the folks that I have met have just been the nicest people on Earth. Just imagine what a person must be like who spends most of their time thinking about how to get Santa to fly over their house, or how to make the display the most fun for children, or where to set up the snowmen (cause there's never just one!).  Or people, like Paul Aziz in Oregon, who actually invent animatronic figures, like his talking and singing snowman.  These are folks with imagination, skills and a sense of whimsy, who understand the wonder of childhood. Each decorator is somewhat of a Disney in their own right.

The majority of these folks not only design a display, but they create a whole  30-minute radio program to go with their display, so people can park at their house, turn their radio on a certain frequency and hear a show while they watch lights.  On my tour I've seen tons of people parked in cars with their families, enjoying a take-out supper and watching the show. How many people all over the world have been entertained for free like this?

Kevin Dunn, a.k.a "The Demented Elf", is responsible for developing the radio program feature and his voice can be heard all over the world at displays.  He is also a super-nice person who has had a radio career and makes the programs sound very professional. He has his own year-round radio station, too: www.holidayamericaradio.com  They plan to play music for every holiday all year round.

Then there are the people who  actually build a walk-through display at their homes, like Larry and Rachel Charpiat in North Carolina, Darrel Moyer in Pennsylvania, and Tommy Sosebee in South Carolina.  They spend hours and hours getting it right, and then they devote their ENTIRE CHRISTMAS SEASON to helping strangers park, giving them hot chocolate for FREE and handing out candy canes.  They practically have amusement parks in their yards, and for many of the people around a visit to their display is a yearly tradition, and yet they don't charge a cent for admission.  And many of them have donation boxes at their displays for a local charity, to boot.

Well, I could go on and on.  Again, I'm just reflecting upon my good fortune of having so many wonderful people in my life because of that one song.  If you are one of them and you are reading this, I want you to know that I do not take you for granted. I am blessed to know each and every one of you. Thank you for accepting me into your community of joy.  You have put so many smiles on my face, made me laugh and sing and made me feel special.  I really and  truly love you all and I wish you the happiest of new years. Thank you for all that you do to make the world a brighter place!!!

Concert in England Tonight!

I woke up to a beautiful, sunny day in merry old England. Hard to believe all of this is happening because of one little song, but I'm so happy and excited. I want the concert to go well tonight. We are using all Paul's equipment so I can't help anything that might go wrong there!
It's funny, I never ever get nervous before a show, but I guess the shows on this tour are a whole 'nother level. I know the press will be there and there will be lots of videos and so forth, and I guess that must be what's making me just a teensy bit queasy.
Providing there are no technical difficulties, the concert will be streamed live at 6:30 pm England time, which is 1:30pm EST in the US. The web address is www.pegondemand.tv and I hope you can watch, and please let me know what you think of it!

Hello from England

Hello,
I decided on the plane that the posts I would make during this trip would be more than just informational. I think I owe it to the people who have made this journey possible (that's YOU!) to dig a little deeper and let you know what I'm feeling and thinking. So here we go....

The past couple of days have been a blur as I rushed to make final preparations for the journey. Such a combination of emotions: excitement, worry, and sadness as I knew it would be nearly a month before I saw my whole family again. I cried a lot more than I thought I would over this mix of feelings swirling around. I've never been away from my family during the Christmas season, but we all discussed this some months ago and agreed that it was worth the risk if the goal, to make The House on Christmas Street a mainstream hit, was achieved.

The first concert of the tour got off to a rough start on Saturday night as we discovered a piece of equipment missing. The radio receiver which would have allowed my sound system to broadcast the music from the decorators' computer systems was missing. It's still missing. We've looked EVERYWHERE but it seems to have vaporized. This was especially awkward and upsetting as it had been a gift from my first host, Brian Mitchell. Brian is a very nice man and sort of a man of few words, so he didn't say much but I'm sure he was upset, and of course the whole situation was not the best way to begin a performance. Then, just as I was about to begin with the first song, the music wouldn't start. I'd been looking for two weeks to replace the piece of equipment that caused THIS problem but had been unable to find anything suitable. Finally it started and the show was off and running and I felt good and smiley. There were, I thought, a good number of people there but I found out later that the snow squall that had happened while I was driving to Claremont had iced over the roads and because Brian lives at the top of the hill there were many who had to turn around because they couldn't get up that hill.
The next disaster happened when I made the poor decision to sing a song I'd only learned over the past two days. It was "All I Want for Christmas is You," and though I thought I knew it, all of the lyrics just FLEW out of my head nearly immediately. I couldn't see the faces of the audience in the dark and so I don't know if they were laughing or disgusted. I was quite angry with myself. The last time I saw a performer botch a song that badly I talked about it for weeks, and now here I was guilty of it myself. Anyhow, things got back on track after that and the lovely little girl who came up to sing "Frosty" with me was a delight!
This was my third annual concert at the Mitchell home and they are the nicest people in the world. If you folks are reading this I want you to know I am very grateful for the opportunity and thankful for your friendship.
NEWS FLASH: just read a great write-up in the e-ticker news of Claremont. You can read it here (you have to scroll down to p. 8) and they have a video on their facebook page here
Sunday I had a fun ride to NYC with my daughter and two of her friends, and I got to the airport in plenty of time. The flight left at 5:40pm and it was a seven hour flight, then I had an hour layover in Dublin and another flight of a little over an hour to get to Birmingham, England, where I was greeted by Paul and his partner Chris. They were just delightful and we hit it off immediately during our two hour drive to Wells (which I learned is called Wells because of the wells! Makes sense, huh?). I visited Paul's home and met his lovely mother and got to see his display and have a photo op there. I also had a telephone interview with someone from the local paper. Then they brought me over to the beautiful b&b where I am staying. I'm in the master bedroom with an amazing canopy bed that looks like something fit for a Queen. There's even a cradle in here in case I decide to have a baby while I'm here! HA HA! The bathtub is huge...it must be six feet long...and nice and deep so I decided to have a bath and I fell asleep in the tub. Here we are five hours ahead of the eastern US so it is about 10am as I write this but 5:00 EST. OH yes, and there's a bidet in the bathroom but I have no idea how to use it and I'm afraid to turn it on lest it spray all over the bathroom. Perhaps, if I am feeling adventurous, I'll try to turn it on later just to see how it works.
Paul and Chris are very gracious and even provided me with a cell phone to call home because mine does not work internationally, so I got to speak to Philip but was unable to reach Emma or Louisa.
In the late afternoon we visited the Wells Cathedral which I'm sure is the oldest building I've ever been in. Walking through it felt like walking back in time. Plus there was the added bonus of meeting the Cathedral cat, Louis, who was curled up by a radiator and was very happy to be petted. The Cathedral is built by the well of St. Andrew, and I found it an amazing coincidence that Google just informed me when I signed on that today is St. Andrew's Feast Day.
Paul and Chris are quite knowledgeable about the history here and they've just filled me up with facts. Today I am waiting for them to arrive for our trip to Stonehenge and Glastonbury. It's snowing lightly outside which they say is very unusual. It snowed when I was in Claremont too. Do you think it will snow in Texas when I am there??????

New Stop Added to the Tour

I'm very excited to announce that I will be performing at the home of Richard Holdman in Utah on December 6th. Richard is very highly regarded in the Christmas decorating community and his videos have been featured on Ellen, Comedy Central and more. You can visit his display at http://http://www.holdman.com/christmas/

I can't wait to see what he does with "The House on Christmas Street!"

The Inspiration for "The House on Christmas Street"

When composer Judy Pancoast was a young child, a favorite holiday activity of her family was to jump in the car and tour the outdoor decorations at the houses in her hometown of Waterville, Maine. One day when Judy was a young teen, her father came home from work and announced that he had heard about a home that had outdone them all in terms of decorating. The family bundled up in the car and drove up to see the house.
As the car came closer to its destination, a glow could be seen in the sky. And as they turned the corner, Judy saw that the street was filled with other families "oohing" and "aahing" over the sight.
From roof to road the house and its grounds were festooned in colorful lights, animated decorations and more. Judy stood on the sidewalk in awe, watching the lights twinkle and the animated characters move. It made her feel happy inside, although she wasn't sure why. She returned to gaze at the house in wonder for years following that first night, even after she grew up and moved away from home. Sadly, one December the house was dark at Christmas time, and has been ever since. Judy never learned whether the original owner/decorator had moved away or passed away. She just knew it was a real loss to the community for that display to cease.
Time passed and life went on. Judy grew up, went to college, began a career working as a musician and radio announcer and got married. When that early marriage broke up, she found herself living alone in a small apartment in a new town far away from family and friends. She worked the 6-11pm shift at a radio station, then drove back to her lonely apartment. It was a night in early December when she was feeling especially sad that she drove around a corner and was stopped in her tracks by a house that was lit up so brightly she couldn't help but pull over and gaze at it. Once again, the twinkling lights mesmerized her, and lifted her spirits in a way that could not be explained. She was very grateful to the homeowners who had gone out of their way to cheer the strangers who happened to pass by. She went home feeling happier, and the next day went out and got a little tree and some lights and decorated her own little place, making it warmer and happier and a nicer place to come home to.
Even more time went by, and Judy's career took her to several different cities and towns. It seemed that, in every town, there was one house that everyone knew about, the one that had the most spectacular decorations. Eventually Judy remarried and she and her husband had two daughters. A favorite Christmas time activity was jumping in the car and touring the streets of their little home town in New Hampshire looking for the brightest and most colorful lighting displays.
In 1998 Judy was inspired by these events to write a song about that house in every town that always had the most outrageous, magical display. She called the song "The House on Christmas Street" and recorded it on her 1998 Christmas CD of the same name.