Notes from a Toyota Sienna.

Driving down to northern Virginia to the in-laws on what the British call Boxing Day, an eight-hour slog, mostly spent in slow traffic on the New Jersey Turnpike. We play some seasonal tracks and then the new CDs we received as Christmas presents, but I notice that the only song that gets the whole minivan singing merrily together (age range six to fifty-three, dog excepted) is "I Gotta Feeling" by the Black-Eyed Peas.

I guess the days of "The Wheels on the Bus" are behind us.

Actually, there were a few hints of unison on Bruce's "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" and the greatest yuletide track ever, Stefan Bednarczyk's "When Santa Kissed the Fairy on the Christmas Tree."