The Usuals

I love Thanksgiving for the Usuals.

I love that when I make this cranberry recipe, I think of that person and our meal together twenty years ago. I love that when I make this apple pie recipe, I know to omit the golden raisins because my niece has strong opinions. I love that for my kids, Thanksgiving means the butternut squash dumplings I tried a long time ago from a Food Network recipe, and have made ever since.

These are the usuals, and if I spice it up occasionally with a new recipe, it’s around the edges of the Usuals.

While my ensemble’s repertoire has more variation year-to-year than my Thanksgiving dinner, I do love that there are some Usuals in my repertoire. Shades is always going to sing some Puerling, and the Aces are always going to sing “Longest Time.” These musical Usuals anchor the repertoire, connect ensemble members to a tradition and a legacy, and can energize the entire year of music-making.