New year ponderables

What's in store musically for 2020?  Will the Dixie Chicks release a song as poignant as "Home" or as hook-filled and defiant as "The Long Way Around?"  Will Field Music's next release contain any songs that are as lyrically wry as "The Noisy Days Are Over?"  Will Sarah Harmer's next release contain a standout track that stays in the mind as much as "Almost?"  How will the new Tennis release stack up with 2016's strong CD, "Yours Conditionally?"  Which jazz, R&B, and folk artists will release captivating and thought-provoking melodies that end up in my favorite-music-of-the-year countdown?

I can't answer any of these questions yet.  I look forward to filling in the blanks, however, over the next 12 months.

Not everyone will get this, but...

I'm not sure how it started, but a large portion of the high school newspaper staff during my junior year remembered a "Rocky And Bullwinkle Fan Club" segment.  One day, one side of the room started chanting rhythmically, "I can't pay the rent."  The other side responded, "You must pay the rent."  Then, both sides chanted in unison, "I'll pay the rent!"

With an appreciation for that type of humor, I knew the paper was in good hands.

Can't hear everything

After I've posted a list of my favorite songs of the year, I have to accept that some great songs might have escaped my attention.  There are always at least a few in any given year.  Six months from now, I might read or hear a review that casually mentions an artist's "best recording, released last year."

At first, I'll think, "Arrrrrrggggghhhhh...How did I not hear about this before now?"

Then, I'll make peace with the fact that, try as I might, there isn't time to hear every piece of recorded music that was released in a year.

Dreams are odd...

...Recently, I dreamed I was in a record store catering to cats and their people.  As I flipped through the 45s, I thought, "Did I see that right?"

Sure enough, there was an alternate version of an Anne Murray song, with the revised spelling, "You Kneaded Me."

I'm still not sure if that's an example of narrowcasting or expanding one's audience.

Continuing the Christmas cheer II

I didn't do this consciously.  While driving this morning, however, I realized I was listening to Christmas music at only about two-thirds of its usual volume.  I'm not sure why I did that.  Did I think someone in another car would snap, "Enough!  Christmas was two days ago!  Stores, radio stations, and streaming services played Christmas music for weeks or even months!  I'm sick of it!  I don't want to hear it anymore!  Listen to whatever you want around me, except that?"

That has never happened to me.  Considering one song that came up on the CD, however, it could have.

Continuing the Christmas cheer

So...How do I handle listening to music on the day after Christmas?  Do I continue to listen to Christmas music?  It feels like it has a little less meaning than it did yesterday...

...But that won't stop me.  Good music is good music, regardless of when I play it.  So, here's Grover Washington, Jr., playing "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" on the saxophone...

...I'm sure I'm not the only one listening to it today.

FM dial scan highlights CXXI (Christmas edition II)

Some of the more ear-catching Christmas selections heard today:

KDHX 88.1 FM

• The Holy Baby-The Dixie Hummingbirds (This variation of "Children, Go Where I Send Thee" features well sung dialogue between baritone William Bobo and the rest of the ensemble.  Kudos to "Feel Like Going Home" host Roy for including this tune and the next three carols on today's show.)
• Beautiful Star Of Bethlehem-Emmylou Harris (Moving country crossover vocals and fiddling. Also recommended: "Light Of The Stable," "The First Noel," and "O Little Town Of Bethlehem.")
• Go Tell It On The Mountain-The Zion Harmonizers (Bluesy gospel vocals.)
• Children, Go Where I Send You-Nina Simone (Possibly the most tuneful rendition I've ever heard.  An infectious piano accompaniment underscores Simone's vocals.)

WSIE 88.7 FM

• Sleigh Ride-Andy Williams (The backing vocalists' cheery take on "Jing-a-ling, jing-jing-a-ling" adds to the fun.)
• The Coventry Carol-Erin Bode (This is one of the more downcast carols, but Bode's vocals, along with appealing piano and guitar accompaniment, offer a glimmer of hope.)
• The Christmas Song-Gregory Porter (Sung as a tribute to Nat King Cole, Porter's rich vocals are a great fit for the tune.)
• Jingle Bells-Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass (A respectful choral intro followed by an uninhibited freak out between the instrumentalists and backing singers.  Everything following the chorus's introduction suggests that Alpert either told the musicians to have fun with the tune, or the musicians instinctively understood that a sense of whimsy was appropriate.)

K297BI 107.3 FM, a.k.a. KNOU-HD2 

• Silent Night-Mannheim Steamroller (This is how you transition from Christmas Eve to Christmas Day--with a quiet, tasteful rendition of "Silent Night."  Whenever I hear this rendition, I take stock of how fortunate I am to have another Christmas with my family.)
• John Rutter: Candlelight Carol (John Rutter, The Cambridge Singers, City Of London Sinfonia) (A reverential accounting of the Nativity.)
  

So many carols, so little time

Christmas Eve has always been one of my favorite days of the year.  For me, it's the perfect combination of traditions--Christmas dinner, watching the George C. Scott version of A Christmas Carol with the family, and getting hardly any sleep.

However, there's also a play-it-by-ear component that appeals to me, as well.  There's so much Christmas music I can listen to via so many sources.  The Radio Arts Foundation's station, K297BI, played some appealing variations of "It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas" earlier tonight. I was also pleased to hear Carolbeth True's piano-anchored version of "I Saw Three Ships" on WSIE today, which uses the carol's lesser-played melody that brings to mind "London Bridge."  In the car, I've switched back and forth between radio stations playing Christmas music and a CD I compiled from late '80s and early '90s recordings of KYKY's "36 Hours Of Christmas."  That was the first station on which I ever heard the Emmylou Harris gem, "Light Of The Stable" and still the only station on which I've ever heard Hagood Hardy's tender, easy listening instrumental version of "Silent Night."  Before I left to celebrate Christmas Eve with my family, I had to listen to favorite carols from my own library.  The night would have felt incomplete without hearing Erin Bode's "The Star's Song," the Laurence Juber/Kenny Rankin version of "Angels We Have Heard On High," and the best rendition of "Away In A Manger" I've ever heard, by Oscar Peterson.

I know I won't get to every single Christmas carol I'd like to hear tonight or tomorrow, but I'll listen to as many as possible.  If carols and Christmas Eve go hand in hand for you, as well, I hope you get to hear as many of them as you like.

A glimmer of hope

While Sting's approach to "Gabriel's Message" is perfectly appropriate, the carol still sounds grim to me, so I don't listen to it often. 

Recently, however, I discovered the key to appreciating it a little more; listen to a brass ensemble play it.  Played with that instrumentation, the carol offers at least a glimmer of hope to the listener.

Varying foodstuffs

I've noticed that one lyric in "Sleigh Ride" differs from version to version.  Sometimes, people pass around the turkey.  Other times, it's coffee.  Some versions mention chocolate instead.  They always pass around the pumpkin pie, however. 

I wonder what accounts for the variance.

Learning the ways of a new cat

I was pleased to learn today that my new cat, Collette, likes washing her fur in time to David Grisman's expansive, mandolin-based rendition of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen."  The carol isn't over yet?  No problem; she just washes her face again. 

That's the kind of thing they don't tell you at the shelter.  I appreciate being surprised that way.

Two similar paths to joy

To most listeners, "While By My Sheep" is not one of the most well-known Christmas carols.  If you listen to "While By My Sheep," followed by "Joy To The World," you can hear how "...Sheep..." sounds like a prototype for "Joy..."  "Joy To The World" takes "While By My Sheep"'s most tuneful elements and shapes them into a melody that's more memorable.

In both carols, however, the joy comes across.

FM dial scan highlights CXX (Christmas edition)

Noteworthy Christmas selections heard this month:

KDHX 88.1 FM

• Somerset Wassail-Artisan (Lyrically, this is a good reminder of how caroling is about brightening your community and how we're all interconnected.)
• Do You Hear What I Hear?-The ReGeneration (A compelling a cappella rendition featuring nice contrasts between the soprano and baritone voices.)
• It Doesn't Have To Be That Way-Jim Croce (I'm always liked Croce's "Maybe this isn't the best Christmas so far, but it can still be salvaged" attitude in the lyrics.  Christmas is a season of hope, after all.)

WSIE 88.7 FM

• Caroling, Caroling-The Manhattan Transfer (Four voices with the force of a choir make this my go-to rendition of this carol.  Appropriately cheerful and concise.)
• Christmas Time Is Here-Warren Wolf (Vibes complement the piano melody in this standout tune from "A Charlie Brown Christmas.")
• White Christmas-Oscar Peterson (Sublime piano, guitar, and rhythm section.  Also recommended: the most beautiful version of "Away In A Manger" I've ever heard.)
• Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town-Jimmy McGriff (Hip organ and guitar; you just know this Santa knows how to read people and chooses the right gifts.) 

K297BI 107.3 FM, a.k.a. KNOU-HD2 

• The Many Moods Of Christmas, Suite 2 (Atlanta Symphony and Chorus/Robert Shaw, conductor) (This medley encompasses an impressive range of carols, from the reverence of "O Sanctissima" to the exuberance of "Joy To The World" to the stately procession that is "March Of The Three Kings.")
• It Came Upon A Midnight Clear (Philadelphia Brass Ensemble) (As usual, the ensemble shows reverence for the melody in this respectful rendition.  I also recommend the ensemble's concise, mighty rendition of "Bring A Torch, Jeannette, Isabella" and basically everything on the album, "A Festival Of Carols In Brass.")
• What Child Is This? (John McDermott Ensemble) (A powerful voice, with appropriately solemn accompaniment from the harp, strings, and winds.)

The exhilaration of a sleigh ride

Recently, I read a book about the history of various Christmas carols.  The illustration with the entry on "Sleigh Ride" was a print of parents and their kids going downhill on a sled.  That jogged my memory; I thought about times, roughly 40 years ago, when I went over to friends' houses and rode down what, at the time, seemed like steep hills on a sled.  Sometimes, when the snow was deep enough on a school day, a gym teacher would tear off large bits of cardboard for kids to use as sleds during recess.

Looking back, it's amusing to think that going on the closest thing we could as a sleigh ride was the height of adventure, danger, and exhilaration for us as kids.

Favorite music of 2019

After a fair amount of revising, I've ranked my 25 favorite songs of 2019:

25.  Sweet Sunshine Wine-Pearl Charles
(1975-ish, Fleetwood Mac-style vocal harmonies are always welcome, as far as I'm concerned.)
24.  Fantasy-Herb Alpert
(If you're familiar with Alpert's previous work, you'll likely recognize his signature trumpet sound.  The trumpet carries the melody where vocals were in Earth, Wind & Fire's original version, softening the tune somewhat but making it no less appealing.)
23.  Dreamtime-Abdullah Ibrahim
(An appropriately titled jazz piano melody.)
22.  Sorry Now-Jill Andrews
(Andrews sings compellingly about why a relationship failed in this strong release from September.)
21.  Triste-Dave Zinno Unisphere
(A brassy, expansive cover of the Antonio Carlos Jobim tune, with plenty of room for each band member to solo.  Also recommended: Kenny Barron's rendition, with its great, self-assured piano intro.)
20.  Unapologetic-Katherine Penfold
(Penfold's strong vocals shine in conjunction with a laid-back organ accompaniment that mimics falling rain.  This throwback-sounding tune, released in October, would be equally at home on a smooth jazz or R&B playlist.)
19.  Fail Safe-William Tyler
(This guitar piece, from Tyler's solidly consistent "Goes West" release, could mark the start of a new Celtic/Country acoustic genre.  Rhythmically, it could work as a prelude to Paul Simon's "Learn How To Fall.")
18.  Rocking Chair-Over The Rhine
(One of 2019's more appealing songs, due to a melody and vocals that fall somewhere between Bonnie Raitt's "Nick Of Time" and the Kenny Loggins/Stevie Nicks tune, "Whenever I Call You 'Friend.'")
17.  Forever Turned Around-Whitney
(This August release has a laid-back '70s throwback feel.  The lead vocals bring to mind Larry Lee's voice on the Ozark Mountain Daredevils hit, "Jackie Blue," with a bit of ELO's "Strange Magic" thrown in.)
16.  The Optimist (Live in Minneapolis)-Cory Wong
(An electric guitar instrumental that could pass for a sketch comedy show theme.  Wong also plays an impressive electrified version of The Vince Guaraldi Trio's "Christmas Is Coming," heard Saturday on Chris Thile's program, "Live From Here.")
15.  Cast-Off-Bruce Hornsby featuring Justin Vernon
(Hornsby's almost church-like keyboard part underscores appropriately sour lyrics and vocals; somehow, this combination works.)
14.  Guide-Steve Lacy
(I hear a Prince influence in the vocals and bass funk line; one of this year's catchier releases.)
13.  Begin Again-Norah Jones
(Can a relationship be salvaged through another go-around?  With a sly, slinky piano line underscoring Jones's always welcome breathy vocals, I'm inclined to think, "Maybe," at least.)
12.  Song Without Words, No. 2: Ballad-Fred Hersch, WDR Big Band & Vince Mendoza
(If this elegant throwback instrumental had been around during the big band days of WEW, I wouldn't have hesitated to play it on the air.)
11.  Echo Park-Bedouine
(I hear Joni Mitchell's influence in the lyrics and vocals of this 2019 standout.  The outro of birds chirping closes the tune appropriately.)
10.  Runnin' With The Devil-The Bird And The Bee
(I'm not a Van Halen fan, but The Bird And The Bee's reworking of the tune made me hear it in a new light.  Actually, using piano in place of guitar with easier-to-decipher vocals improves the song more than I ever would have imagined.)
  9.  Light On-Maggie Rogers
(Kudos to Rogers for her honest admission that being successful sometimes entails a dizzying array of choices to make and more public exposure than you might want.  The energetic, accessible hook sounds familiar but doesn't wear out its welcome.  I wish more pop music sounded like this.)
  8.  Radiate-Ex Hex
(One of 2019's catchiest indie rock tunes.  The vocals, guitar, and drums contribute equally to the song's propulsive, great-for-driving momentum.)
  7.  We Had Searched For Heaven-Tony Momrelle featuring Maysa
(The positive ingredients making up this strong April release: Sincere lyrics, beautifully sung to a refreshing uptempo melody, and an undercurrent that resembles the bass line from Al Jarreau's "Save Me.")
  6.  Home (Re-recorded version)-Karla Bonoff
(On her "Carry Me Home" release, Bonoff revisits standout tracks from throughout her career, including this standout, originally recorded for Bonoff's strong 1977 self-titled release.  The sentiments of longing for home still resonate all these years later, in Bonoff's re-recorded version.  For beautiful vocal harmonies, I also recommend the cover version by The Boxcar Lilies.)
  5.  Diamond In The Rough (Acoustic Edition)-Shawn Colvin
(Colvin also revisited part of her career this year by releasing new acoustic versions of her "Steady On" tracks.  Thirty years later, Colvin's strengths as a singer-songwriter shine just as brightly.  Also recommended: "Steady On," "Shotgun Down The Avalanche," and "Ricochet In Time.")
  4.  101-Smuggler Brothers
(2019's standout funk instrumental, as far as I'm concerned; its infectious riff would segue with "El Nino" by The Sound Stylistics.)
  3.  Blacck (Live at The Village Vanguard)-Jon Batiste
(2019's standout jazz piano riff, in my opinion; an appealing strut of a melody that accommodates piano, trumpet, saxophones, and scat vocals perfectly.  Elizabeth Shepherd's "Shining Tear Of The Sun" has a compatible piano vamp and would sound appropriate before this.)
  2.  She-The Brothers Steve
(Immediately accessible, incredibly catchy power pop.  It's deceptively difficult to craft a tune that sounds relatively basic lyrically and match it with a guitar line that keeps you hooked for the entire song.  If sitcoms still had theme songs, I'd bank on the showrunner who insisted on this one.  Seriously, if you can refrain from shaking your head in time to this, you just might be a cyborg.)
  1.  Dance In The Graveyard-Runa
(My immediate reaction upon first hearing this in April was, "I think I just heard my favorite song of the year."  And, so it is.  Wonderfully warm, spirited vocals and Celtic-style fiddling make these lyrics about celebrating life resonate.  The cycle of life is sometimes painfully hard to accept, but these lyrics remind us to appreciate those who went before us, those who are still with us, and those we have yet to meet.  Sung reminders are rarely more valuable than that.  If the sentiments of which The Wailin' Jennys sing in "Old Churchyard" appeal to you, Runa's perspective here should provoke a similar reaction.)

"Respect the Christmas muse!"

It always irked me slightly that my high school jazz band tended to play Christmas carols with less enthusiasm than most other songs.

"Come on," I sometimes thought while hearing the band go through the motions during "(There's No Place Like) Home For The Holidays" or "The Christmas Song."  "Respect the music and Christmas.  It's not as though anyone's asking you to sing maniacally about pumpkin pie."

Persistent earworm alert CLXVII

For about the past four hours, the sung title of Nightnoise's "Snow Is Lightly Falling" has been on my mind.  It's ironic, as the snow has fallen rather quickly here in that time.

Listening to that 1990 track from the Windham Hill compilation, "A Winter's Solstice III," I'm reminded of how grim, solemn, and emblematic of Winter it is.  Lyrically, it's about someone struggling with loneliness, in keeping with the season.  The vocals are appropriately sorrowful, and the instrumentation sounds rooted in the '80s.

To balance this downbeat feeling, I'm going to try thinking of the Vince Guaraldi Trio's "Skating" instead.  I hope that makes me appreciate the beauty of the snow--instead of its inconvenience.

Persistent earworm alert CLXVI

So far this month, I'd been able to avoid thinking about one of the odder Christmas covers.  Alas, in the past hour, Boney M's version of "Mary's Boy Child" has infiltrated my mind.  Putting a respectful, reverential song about Christ's birth to a disco beat is just strange to me.

I'm sticking with Harry Belafonte's rendition.

The "Feliz Navidad" conundrum

Objectively, there isn't much to the song, "Feliz Navidad."  Objectively, listeners glean right away that the singer wants to wish us a merry Christmas, and that's basically it.  Objectively, it gets repetitive quickly. 

Christmas isn't about being objective, however.  Jose Feliciano sings it with such joy that it's churlish not to seek it out at least once in December...

...Actually, if you listen to commercial radio stations playing Christmas music, you probably won't have to seek it out.  It'll find you.  Such is the way of "Feliz Navidad."

A caroler's challenge II

In retrospect, I should have requested a carol on the Dial-A-Carol hotline this morning that was easier to sing.  The caroler on the phone pulled up the lyrics of "O Holy Night."  She apparently wasn't familiar with the melody, so she attempted to improvise.  That hadn't happened when I'd called in previous years, but with so many calls coming in, I don't blame her for making that judgment call.

Later that afternoon, I called again, resolved to request a more familiar carol.  Per my request, the caroler sang "Silver Bells," with a backup singer chiming in part of the way through it.  Those carolers didn't let any pitch limitations in their singing ranges stop them as they forged ahead.

Due to a limited singing range, I've never sung Christmas carols to anyone over the phone.  I commend all of these singers I heard today for giving my requested carols the old college try.

Putting your stamp on a Christmas carol

When you're arranging an extremely familiar Christmas carol, you can dive right into the immediately recognizable aspects of it or attempt a prelude.  Alan Danson's arrangement of "Joy To The World," as played by Mainstreet Brass, succeeds with the second, riskier approach.  If you hear it blind, you might not realize it's "Joy To The World" for the first 19 seconds.  Nevertheless, the joy is apparent immediately, and it's a fitting lead-in to the carol's familiar melody.

Persistent earworm alert CLXV

For at least three days, Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline" has been on my mind.  I've been singing it with revised lyrics, however, in honor of my new, constantly underfoot cat, Collette.  The chorus, as I sing it, begins, "Sweet Collette cat...You will make me break my legs..."

Luckily, despite the hint of a self-fulfilling prophecy, I haven't tripped over Collette and broken any bones--yet.

Persistent earworm alert CLXIV

Ordinarily, I don't presume what persistent earworm might be running through someone else's mind.  In this case, however, I'll make an educated guess.  My new cat, Collette, has been following me around at home constantly.  I don't know what music she heard during the two years before I adopted her, but I suspect that one lyric from Little Peggy March's oldie, "I Will Follow Him," has stuck with her.  When she approaches, I start hearing the wheels in her mind zero in on the lyric, "I will follow him, follow him wherever he may go..."

When your cat moves in step with you and backtracks when you backtrack, I think it's plausible that she might have taken that lyric to heart and decided to live by it.  If that's the case with Collette, or even if it isn't, I take her tagalong tendencies as a compliment.  Moving across the kitchen is next to impossible for me lately, but, under the circumstances, I don't mind.

Only in college LXXI

Near the end of a semester, I went to the instructor's office to turn in a paper I'd written.  I'd put a lot of effort into it, in addition to studying for finals, so I felt somewhat frazzled.  The instructor, the general manager of the NPR affiliate at which I worked, wasn't in his office.  The program director was there, however, so I spoke to him. 

Half-sarcastically, half-seriously, I told the p.d., "I'm turning in the paper I wrote for Mr. D.'s class.  It's my analysis of a Florida radio station's situation and my recommendation for a format change.  As far as I'm concerned, it's excellent."

"How lucky for the powers that be, then, who would heed your advice," the p.d. responded.

How lucky, indeed.  What commercial radio station powers that be wouldn't see fit to heed the advice of a 22-year-old who, at the time, had worked solely in noncommercial radio?

Persistent earworm alert CLXIII

Just hearing it once is enough to keep "Riverbottom Nightmare Band" from "Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas" in my mind for weeks.  By Muppet standards, it's some unusually in-your-face rock.  Sounding somewhere between Deep Purple and Edgar Winter Group's "Frankenstein," "...Nightmare..." almost makes Dr. Teeth And The Electric Mayhem sound like an orderly jazz combo.

Not meant to be techno

While grocery shopping recently, I thought, "It'd be nice if the store played Christmas music, but I guess it's not mandatory."

I listened more closely.  Turns out, Christmas music was playing.  It was a techno-sounding, seemingly Auto-Tuned version of "Jingle Bells."

Nothing says one can't sing "Jingle Bells" that way.  In my view, however, "Jingle Bells" shouldn't have an "oonce, oonce, oonce" beat.

Only in college LXX

The philosophy instructor asked who played an instrument.  I raised my hand and said I played the bass.  He asked, "Are you good?"  I replied, "Yeah, I guess so."  "How do you know?" he asked.

I made a quick mental calculation.  "He's not looking for a resume of my accomplishments," I thought.  "I'll bet he's trying to tell us that everything is relative."

"It really demands on the standard of comparison," I answered.  "I'm not Charles Mingus, Jaco Pastorius, or Ron Carter.  Compared to someone who doesn't play the instrument or someone who has just begun, though, I'd say I sound good."

That was the type of answer the teacher wanted.  In his defense, he did tell the class early in the semester, "I'll contradict you no matter what you say."

Don't let the mellow expression fool you...

December 3, 2019: Seemingly tranquil Collette.

...My new cat, Collette, can zip across a room in no time.  After nearly tripping over her and almost breaking my neck at least three times and having to catch her in the vet's office after she jumped out of the carrier and nearly ran out the door, David Rose and his orchestra's "Parade Of The Clowns" has run through my mind...

...And that's fine.  After what I've been through recently,  I welcome my new cat's boisterousness, within reason.  With a young cat and a weary guardian, clown music is sometimes inevitably appropriate.

A Christmas carol for a somber mood

If you don't have the most joyous Christmas spirit this year but still want to acknowledge the holiday, I recommend Sandy Owen's version of "What Child Is This?"  Owen is faithful to the carol, and his embellishments on the piano complement its solemn nature.

Laying the groundwork for a miracle

Since my cat, Sylvia, passed away, I've thought a lot about the song, "Even A Miracle Needs A Hand," from the Rankin/Bass Christmas special, "'Twas The Night Before Christmas."  Since 2010, Sylvia required a special type of cat food.  For the last two and a half years of her life, she went to the vet for fluids to help her kidneys and an appetite stimulant pill.  I gave her additional prescribed medicine at home.

All of it was absolutely worthwhile.  Thanks to the animal hospital staff's efforts, my efforts, and Sylvia's cooperation, we were able to extend her life for over two years.  That miracle needed a hand, and I'm grateful to everyone who provided one.

Appreciating the moment

I remember listening to a Norman Luboff Choir Christmas CD one morning several years ago.  I was sitting on the sofa with my cat, Sylvia, curled up on me and purring loudly.  We were both looking at the Christmas tree, and every so often, I'd look out at the snow outside.  Neither of us had to be anywhere soon, so there was time to simply enjoy the music--and the moment.

"Sylvia," I said, "If you hear me start to complain about something, please find a way to remind me of this moment."

There were other incidents in which Sylvia sat on my lap or next to me and purred loudly while music played.  I was convinced she'd gotten my message, and I thanked her for that.