The end of a tradition

Traditions…this time of year is chocked full of them. And as we continue through the holiday season we find ourselves often thinking about how different things will be next year. Or will they?

One of our annual traditions on the Saturday after Thanksgiving week is to stand in line for a KBCO Studio C CD. KBCO is a local radio station in Boulder, CO. Many years ago they started inviting traveling musicians who were in town for a show to stop by the studio and play a live song or two. This all started in what was basically a closet; eventually they built a separate studio, which is named “Studio C”. They record the appearances and then pick the “best” for a compilation CD at the end of the year. They only produce a limited number CDs and frequently sell out in a few hours. So it has become a tradition for many folks to get up early and stand in line for hours – outside in the Colorado winter! – in order to get one. Some people actually set up tents and spend the night…we’re not that crazy! I don’t know if the interest has dwindled over the years or if the economy is to blame, but this year they didn’t sell out until the next day. It was a little disappointing to think we got up early and stood in the cold when we could have waltzed in at noon, but this being our last year in town, we felt that we had to do it one last time. But it’s worth it, especially since all of the proceeds go to charity. We feel it’s a win-win – we can do some good while getting a unique collection of music in return. This year is the 21st year. We don’t have originals from some of the early years, but do have a total of about 15 and copies of all the rest. Some of the artists from this year include The Fray, David Gray, Susan Tedeschi, Brandi Carlisle and Ziggy Marley. Hopefully, one of our close friends will send us copies in future years (we're counting on you Sean!).

One of our other annual holiday traditions is that Tracy and I buy one ornament which reflects the past year. We’ve been doing this since our first Christmas together. When pulling out our Christmas ornaments, we always pause and open the box which contains “our ornaments” together. We usually sit for a few minutes and talk about each one. It’s a great way to remember special memories from years past. This year I found it a bit ironic when we uncovered our ornament from our first year, 2001. It is an RV! Now, to be honest, I don’t really remember why we picked out this ornament. We didn’t own an RV. We had only been together for a couple of months. I think we might have talked about how fun it would be to travel in an RV someday, but it was more in the essence of ‘wouldn’t it be cool to fly to the moon’. So it makes me wonder…was it a premonition? Is it yet another sign that this is our destiny?