Another fun Christmas memory from 2009 . . .

Kathy and I were relaxing in the living room yesterday afternoon,  when Kathy suddenly stopped in mid-sentence- got this faraway look on her face-  and then looked at me and quietly said “listen.”

So I did.

And that’s when I noticed the distinct sound of distant sleigh bells.  It sounded for all the world like there was a horse-drawn sleigh pulling into our driveway.  I leapt to my feet and ran to the front door,  half-expecting to see exactly that. (But of course I saw nothing of the sort.)  And when I came back into the family room,  with a look of bewilderment on my face,  Kathy flashed me an amused smile and then cocked her head towards the laundry room.  So I walked into the laundry room,  and that’s when I realized that the sound of sleigh bells was coming from the top of the washing machine – from a box of sleigh bells which we brought home from Kathy’s school.   (We thought they might come in handy if Lorelai wanted all of us to sing a couple rounds of “Jingle Bells” or “Sleigh Ride.”)   The washing machine had just gone into one of its spin cycles,  and the vibration of the machine was setting off those sleigh bells and filling our house with that wonderful sound.  What a lovely, accidental surprise this turned out to be –  although it also seemed like the kind of thing that one might find in Martha Stewart Living magazine in an article titled “Top Ten Ways To Fill Your Home With More Holiday Festivity.”  Except that what made this so delightful was that it was completely unplanned – like so many of the best things in life.