My favorite things

Girls in white dresses with blue satin stashes
Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes
Silver white winters that melt into spring
These are a few of my favorite things.

I can just hear the song in my head now.  In the words of Sofia Patrillo from the Golden Girls; Picture it, Greenville, NC -- 1989 at the Greenville Hilton.  That was the night that the young lady that I escorted would be formally presented to the who's who? of the Greenville Black Community.  As the list of debutantes and their pedigree and the pedigree of their marshals were being read, that same song was being played by the orchestra.  Ironically enough, the girls in this cotillion were wearing white dresses, but were missing the blue sashes.  Last year I had the honor of serving as Marshal for a former student who is very dear to me when she debuted in the Alpha Kappa Alpha Debutante Ball, and what song should begin to play before our dance?  You guessed it!  My favorite things.  That evening was just as magical as the one that I had experienced twenty years earlier, before she was even born.

I think that Rogers and Hammerstein were on to something with this particular song.  It is a holiday instrumental classic, that is pumped into department stores, restaurants and holiday socials.  But it bids us to ask what are some of our favorite things?  I'm not talking about material things, but what are some of your favorite things that you can't go buy at the local shopping center?  Might they be, a long autumn walk amidst rustling leaves, the smell of sugar and molasses cookies baking, a hug from your child, a piece of mail that is not a bill, hearing the voice of your special someone, or being cuddled up on the couch with your pet and a cup of hot chocolate on a cold, rainy day?  Whatever your favorite things are, take time to embrace them during the madness and mayhem that the holiday season tends to bring.

Peace,
Karsten