Two Thanksgiving performances

Tomorrow's one of our favorite holidays, and we plan to spend it, in part, eating Turkey alongside MICA's international students, watching RGIII post 7-yard dashes against the Cowboys, and splashing about in an indoor pool. For now, though, we're looking forward to the day-before-Thanksgiving Bolton Hill Nursery pageant. The bread pudding is coming together, and there's a rumor that the Bluebirds will be dressed as carrots, and our own Yellowbird as a leaf. Even a trip to Whole Foods, bursting at the seams with turkeys and cranberries, conspires to put one in a holiday frame of mind.

Here at halfstep, though, we like to give as well as to receive - and so we spent a few minutes casting about for some Thanksgiving-themed music. It turns out, though, that it's rather slim pickings: Handel may have Christmas covered, and Bach took care of Easter - but Commissioner Sir Dean Goffin's 'Symphony of Thanksgiving,' which might seem to be relevant here, is actually an abstract meditation on God's grace by a New Zealand-based member of the Salvation Army. Not entirely beside the point, I guess, but its bright opening fanfare hardly recalls, to this listener, late New England autumns, or fallen maple leaves.

And so we've crafted our own brief message, working in house with our own team of crack screenwriters and actors to produce and pass on a 5-second holiday greeting. Enjoy - and enjoy the coming day, as well.