I had forgotten how much I enjoy, no, I love, The Sound of Music. Over the Christmas holidays, it came on tv and I sat there, mesmerized once again, by Maria and the von Trapp family.

I enjoy it for so many reasons:

• the songs are familiar, and bring a smile to my face as I sing along. Isn’t it glorious to sing along to “Doe, a dear, a female deer. Ray, a drop of golden sun…”?
• It’s a quintessential love story – between Maria and the Captain, between Liesl and Rolf, between Maria and the children and vice versa.
• It’s a story of survival and beliefs in one’s ideals.
• And it’s a story that celebrates music.

My favorite scene is the one where the Captain hosts a formal dinner party. Maria is on the veranda, teaching the children an Austrian folk dance, when the Captain intervenes. The Captain and Maria dance together, and as he twirls her they stare into each other’s eyes,  falling in love. I know it’s predictable, and it’s cliche, but it’s still one of my favorites.