Playground Music
I normally try to avoid talking about the weather. It is a mundane, over-used subject that people talk about when they have nothing else to talk about. But today I simply must talk about it.
While a humongous blizzard barrels down upon the northeastern American states, here on the Great Plains we are experiencing unseasonably warm and delightful weather. The weather prognosticators have predicted that we will surpass 70 degrees (Fahrenheit) today. In January! Just a little over a week ago we were below zero with snow and ice covering everything.
So a couple of hours ago I opened all the windows in my apartment. I am an ardent lover of fresh air and one of the things I dislike about winter is the need to close windows to stay warm. The rest of the year my windows are always wide open.
After opening the windows to fill my home with invigorating fresh air I then went for a nice, long leisurely walk. I walk every day all year long and I can tell you that walking in bitterly cold weather with howling winds and snow just is not as pleasurable as walking when it is 70 degrees out. Instead of walking quickly to get someplace warm, today I walked very slowly, enjoying all the sights and sounds of both nature and my neighborhood. I luxuriated in the warm sun on my face and the birdsong which filled the air. And I did not even have to wear a jacket!
It was hard to believe that it is January.
What a delight it was to come back home to an apartment filled with the same fresh air that I had just experienced outside. While I had been walking my apartment had been flushed clean of the smells and staleness of having the windows closed for so long.
I went to my desk and turned on my laptop in anticipation of an afternoon of writing with the windows open. Writing with the windows open is always more joyous and productive than writing with the windows closed. But before sitting down to write I went to the bathroom to pee. That is when my joy level rose even higher.
While my writing desk is in the southern part of my apartment, the bathroom is in the northern part. Well, there is an elementary school just one block north of my apartment. As I peed I realized that the children were having recess. It is a fantastic sound that I have not heard in a couple of months because the bathroom window has been closed most of that time because of winter. When the window is open the sound of children playing at recess is quite audible. And it is one of my favorite sounds in the entire world!
I know someone who hates the sound of children playing on the playground. They call it noise. Not me. To me, it is like music. It is a very hypnotizing, high-vibratory sound that can open portals into the skein of time and space. It is a universal sound that has been heard by every human at some point in their life. And it sounds the same no matter where on the planet you are and no matter what language the children speak. It is a cumulative symphony of hundreds of children expressing joy. It is the music of joy and exhilaration and innocent youth. The sound can take you back to your childhood and it can even take you back to "past-lives." It can resurrect the youthful joy buried inside you. For me, it never fails to raise my vibrations.
I stayed there in the bathroom for several minutes with my eyes closed just listening to the playground music, letting it fill my being. I had forgotten that the proximity to this life-giving sound was one of my favorite things about my apartment. I was filled with gratitude. And I was suddenly very happy.
Fantastic weather, opened windows and heavenly playground music.... What a fantastic day!
Finally I returned to my writing desk on the south side of my apartment where I cannot hear the children playing. I sat down and wondered what I was going to write about. I try not to talk about the weather much but today how can I not?
Copyright by White Feather. All Rights Reserved.
While a humongous blizzard barrels down upon the northeastern American states, here on the Great Plains we are experiencing unseasonably warm and delightful weather. The weather prognosticators have predicted that we will surpass 70 degrees (Fahrenheit) today. In January! Just a little over a week ago we were below zero with snow and ice covering everything.
So a couple of hours ago I opened all the windows in my apartment. I am an ardent lover of fresh air and one of the things I dislike about winter is the need to close windows to stay warm. The rest of the year my windows are always wide open.
After opening the windows to fill my home with invigorating fresh air I then went for a nice, long leisurely walk. I walk every day all year long and I can tell you that walking in bitterly cold weather with howling winds and snow just is not as pleasurable as walking when it is 70 degrees out. Instead of walking quickly to get someplace warm, today I walked very slowly, enjoying all the sights and sounds of both nature and my neighborhood. I luxuriated in the warm sun on my face and the birdsong which filled the air. And I did not even have to wear a jacket!
It was hard to believe that it is January.
What a delight it was to come back home to an apartment filled with the same fresh air that I had just experienced outside. While I had been walking my apartment had been flushed clean of the smells and staleness of having the windows closed for so long.
I went to my desk and turned on my laptop in anticipation of an afternoon of writing with the windows open. Writing with the windows open is always more joyous and productive than writing with the windows closed. But before sitting down to write I went to the bathroom to pee. That is when my joy level rose even higher.
While my writing desk is in the southern part of my apartment, the bathroom is in the northern part. Well, there is an elementary school just one block north of my apartment. As I peed I realized that the children were having recess. It is a fantastic sound that I have not heard in a couple of months because the bathroom window has been closed most of that time because of winter. When the window is open the sound of children playing at recess is quite audible. And it is one of my favorite sounds in the entire world!
I know someone who hates the sound of children playing on the playground. They call it noise. Not me. To me, it is like music. It is a very hypnotizing, high-vibratory sound that can open portals into the skein of time and space. It is a universal sound that has been heard by every human at some point in their life. And it sounds the same no matter where on the planet you are and no matter what language the children speak. It is a cumulative symphony of hundreds of children expressing joy. It is the music of joy and exhilaration and innocent youth. The sound can take you back to your childhood and it can even take you back to "past-lives." It can resurrect the youthful joy buried inside you. For me, it never fails to raise my vibrations.
I stayed there in the bathroom for several minutes with my eyes closed just listening to the playground music, letting it fill my being. I had forgotten that the proximity to this life-giving sound was one of my favorite things about my apartment. I was filled with gratitude. And I was suddenly very happy.
Fantastic weather, opened windows and heavenly playground music.... What a fantastic day!
Finally I returned to my writing desk on the south side of my apartment where I cannot hear the children playing. I sat down and wondered what I was going to write about. I try not to talk about the weather much but today how can I not?
Copyright by White Feather. All Rights Reserved.