It’s that time of year when all the big and small towns across our land celebrate the Christmas miracle. Back in my parents’ hometown in Kansas, the 300 residents have been celebrating for years with the Christmas Madrigal Pageant Extravaganza.

This extravaganza is a community production which strives to revive medieval song and spirit. Folks wear period costumes so that the attendees can have a true cultural experience -- or something like that.

It’s an experience worth having so I planned to visit my parents the weekend it was scheduled. Plus, given that I have had a long year of hunting and fishing across this great land, I  decided that I needed a little R& R. (Trixie laughs when I tell her how tired that makes me and reminds me that it is a self-imposed torture. I do realize that but, after all, somebody has to do it, right?)