Travel Blog

"You sound like you know what you're doing," said the woman standing at her door.

"Some of us do," I said.

We were halfway into the second annual Samargia Family Christmas Tour of the Old Northwood neighborhood of West Palm Beach. The leader, Adriana, sings jazz at the Four Seasons and other venues, and her children - Josef, Jacob and Mila - can be heard in various youth choirs. The rest of us were a motley of friends and people from the neighborhood. I found myself torn between wanting to sing and wanting to listen to angelic voices unsullied by my singing.

We began the evening at the Old Northwood Clubhouse with hot chocolate and cookies. Then we wandered the streets, knocking on doors and singing carols when people appeared. This year folks seemed more comfortable with the sight - not that common in South Florida - of a group of strangers in funny hats singing songs on their front lawn. (Well, we had been told to bring funny hats, but - apart from a few young women in Santa Claus hats - and me in my bowler - we were mostly bare-headed.)

We picked up members as we went, at one point numbering almost 20. We did a very fine version of "The 12 Days of Christmas" (which I used to have my Polish students sing to work on their pronunciation). Most of us backed off on "The Bells," leaving it to Adriana and her children and a few of the others, who did a masterful job. We also sang, for Hanukkah, "The Dreidel Song." I complimented one young woman who'd joined us, and she told me she sang quite a bit - sometimes at sporting events. I was clearly in over my head.

But there is something wonderfully therapeutic about singing in a group - especially a group that doesn't care how you sing. As we walked, Adriana pulled a little wagon which over the course of the evening filled with canned goods for the food pantry at St. Ann Church in West Palm Beach, where she is the director of music ministries.

A little after 9 we headed back to the clubhouse, not wanting to be charged with disturbing the peace. Though we could have argued that we were creating it.