December 11th, 2023

Hello Folks,

     As the holidays rapidly approach, my plan is to work, worship and worry LESS, and spend more time with those people and things that I love. For me, this is what helps bring the light back into my world. Every moment that I spend with one of my kids, Julie, my in-laws, my friends or my family members is like lighting a candle, and cursing the darkness (in the words of old "iron puss", Bishop Fulton Sheen). I plan on doing that either in person or virtually every day between now and the end of the year. It will come in the form of baking cookies, facetime and virtual visiting, trips to museums, having dinners and receiving Christmas cards.

    As far as Worship goes, I have been avoiding churches for quite some time. The religions of the world are so divided that they are actually starting to threaten humanity itself. That’s as far as I will speak to that topic. Still, I miss the smell of church and the sacred music at Christmas time, but I’m determined to keep my distance and my sanity. That’s not to say that I may poke my head into one of the seven churches that are within a two block radius of our house in Penn Yan. Just to get a sacred whiff.

    Worrying is a part of my cultural heritage, I can’t deny that, but, at least for this time of the year, I plan on keeping the worry rag at a distance and a smile on my face. That always entails, concentrating more on the present moment, savoring each and every precious second that I can spend creatively and with those that I love. To eliminate worrying I tend to watch all of the sappy holiday movies that I can absorb in the next two weeks.

   Even though I say work less, I will still be at Bernunzio Uptown Music every Saturday from now until the end of the year. I don’t consider that work. It is bringing something into people’s lives and not taking something out. The joy I get from Bernunzio Uptown Music is the jams in the back room and meeting new and old friends and hearing young people discover a new sound on an instrument. It’s not the jingle of the cash register… that is just a necessary thing that is needed in order to pay for our great staff and the building that houses us. Visit us..we are open from 11 till five Thursday Friday and Saturday. I’ll bring the cucudati…Italian Christmas cookies!

Best Regards,

John Bernunzio

I skipped work on Saturday and my daughters, Rose, and Grace spent the day with me. We went to the big Mamou Farm store….…. And several wineries!  And topped it off with a great outdoor lunch at Sans Dumpling above Seneca Lake. 

The heart of the Finger Lakes