The Sound of Joy

I realized, again, something very obvious today.  I love music.  My music education started in pre-school, when a pre-school teacher asked my mom if I was being given voice lessons, because I was singing harmony to 'Old MacDonald', at 3.  Before I could even reach the floor with  my toes, sitting on the piano bench, I had been started with piano lessons.

When I get in the car, I turn the key, and before I even adjust the temperature to see to my own comfort, I turn on the radio.  It depends on my mood, but generally, by the time I get to a main road, I am singing at the top of my lungs.

When I am cleaning the house, as I'm getting started, I turn on the cable TV to a music channel and turn it up as loud as I think will not bother my apartment neighbors.  Housework goes faster and easier when you dance and sing through it.

And so it goes.  I have playlists on my phone.  I have CDs in my car.  There are certain parts of the nearby resort town that bring to memory a specific song, just by driving past.  There are certain people in my life who will be forever linked to a certain group, or genre, or song.  Late at night, after a long and stressful day, my personal reward is to play the piano.  My kids grew up falling asleep to the sound of me playing the piano, since this was the only quiet time I could play when they were little.  Sometimes, they even still mention it.

But sometimes people forget the most obvious things, and it took this video, posted by a Facebook friend, to remind me.  The song they play is even CALLED 'Ode to Joy'.  And what a joy it is....the fabulous, energizing, calming, life-affirming, soul-enriching, everyday JOY of music....

Here is the video.  Enjoy.

http://www.thisblewmymind.com/street-musician-tipped-girl-happened-next-blew-whole-city-away/#zlf1IQsMfvpRdtPH.01

You Are My Sunshine

When My Son was little, the first song he ever learned to sing was You Are My Sunshine.  He was blonde, with blue eyes, and smiled constantly, with a dimple that winked in one cheek in a way that made my heart light up, every time I saw him smile.  You have never heard such an adorable rendition of You Are My Sunshine in your life, I promise you.  And he WAS my sunshine.  Nothing ever made me happier than having him wake up and say, 'Good MORNING, Mommy!'

Then he was joined by Princess.  Princess was not even 6 pounds at birth, and was, quite simply, the prettiest baby that was ever born.  She honestly and truly looked like a real, live, living, breathing baby doll.  One of those perfect porcelain baby dolls with the rosy-perfect skin and tiny, tiny hands.  I don't even remember her ever crying much, or spitting up, or doing any of the things that 'normal' babies do.  She was FAR too ladylike, even as a baby.

Soon, My Son and Princess were joined by Peaches.  Peaches smiled ALL THE TIME.  She was cheerful and bubbly, and made us laugh almost every minute.  In those minutes she wasn't making us laugh, she was charming us into submission.  She just seemed to come into the world to charm and enchant the rest of us.  And she does.

Well, My Son, Princess, and Peaches are all grown now.  Princess is married, with a family of her own, Peaches probably will be, soon.  My Son has moved from the East Coast town where he grew up to the Rockies with some friends, to explore and adventure.  We don't get to see ANY of them as often as we would like.

Today, I was treated to a visit from Peaches and her intended.  They didn't stay too long, but it was so wonderful to see them.  They were just catching us up with their lives and what's been going on...but I realized how much they all three still light up my life in their own ways, just as much as they did when they were little.  They may not be my babies anymore, and they may not sing You Are My Sunshine to their momma anymore, but they are STILL my sunshine.  Each one of them.  My everyday joy today is getting to see the young adults my sunshines are growing to be.

I hope they will always know, no matter what they face in life, how much joy they bring to mine.

Belonging

My Darling Husband is in culinary school.  I haven't mentioned that before, but food has been a hobby for him for a long time, and when he got out of the military, he decided to use one of his veteran's benefits and go back to school.  Cooking was a natural choice.  I may not be the student, but I've been almost as excited by his choice as he has, because cooking together is something we've always enjoyed.  Added to that is the personal benefit that I get to eat his homework and projects!

Today, there was a special event at the school for his class.  Each class member was permitted to invite a select few people to enjoy a 5-star French meal, cooked and served by the class.  I remember being so interested in going, when he told me when it was, and thinking how nice it was that he could just tell me, and assume I would want to go, without even having to really ask.  I didn't think much of it, at the time.  

So this morning, I went with Darling's best friend and his wife, who is one of MY best friends, to the school for lunch.  Everyone I met...his chef, his classmates, and even some of his classmate's family members...said something like, 'Oh, you're his wife?  I've heard SO much ABOUT you!'  

So the thing that has brought me so much joy today is just the sense of truly being part of him.  Truly belonging to my Darling Husband, and knowing that he thinks about me, loves me, and speaks well of me, even when I'm not there.  Culinary school is 'his' thing, and it would have been fine, even expected, if his classmates had said, 'Oh, how very nice to meet you.' and knew nothing about me.  But they didn't.  Because my husband carries me in his heart and treasures me wherever he goes, and whatever he is doing.  

And that is TRULY something that brings me joy.  

Lunch was amazing, by the way....but more on that another day.  

Welcoming the Light

It is one of my morning rituals. Sit up in bed, put my feet on the floor, and wonder, once again, why morning has come SO early.  Head groggily into the kitchen where I try to navigate the intricacies of my one-cup Keurig, half-awake without a minor kitchen catastrophe.  Those of you who own a Keurig with a reservoir will never quite understand this challenge, but some of my previous house guests will.  I'll let them remain nameless.

Oh, I am SO not a morning person.  But, once I know that liquid caffeine in the form of Twinings English Breakfast Tea will soon be mine, I shuffle....even a little more awake....over to the patio door to open the blinds.  I have thought, often, that the vertical blinds installed by our apartment complex are even more difficult to operate awake than the Keurig is asleep.  But I can usually manage it by this point.

As I pull that plastic beaded cord, I wake up fully, suddenly full of joy and simple enthusiasm for what will happen.  With a gentle tug, the blinds rotate 45 degrees, and that simple change floods my living room with light.  Sometimes, it's the brilliant sunshine of a cloudless day.  Other days, it's only the grey overcast haze of a storm.  But either way, my living room is brighter, more welcoming, more cheerful.

It is such a joy each morning to welcome the light into my home.  I wonder sometimes if life isn't just a little bit like that.  A challenge may confound us, and befuddle us like my Keurig when I first wake up, leaving us in a gloomy, dark place.  But sometimes the simplest of things, advice from a friend, a walk, a good night's sleep...can make the change, and suddenly the problem is flooded with light, and so much more hopeful than it seemed in the dark.

I love sunshine and light, and it is my everyday joy today to welcome the light.  I hope I will remember to welcome it into EVERY part of my life, not just my living room.

Beginnings

Today.  March 27.  Not a birthday. Not an anniversary.  A THURSDAY.  An ordinary, everyday, run-of-the-mill day of a week like every other week.  So it seems like a pretty inauspicious day to begin a blog.  Aren't these things generally begun out of a sense of milestone, or to begin a new adventure of some sort?

But here I am, starting the blog my Princess has been telling me I should write for a couple years now.  Princess is my middle child, a dear, precious daughter who is married to a kind and loving man.  Together, they are the parents of Button, my beautiful little grandson, and an as-yet-unnamed expected arrival of a new grandbaby.  Make no mistake.  They HAVE a name picked out.  It's only that they don't know whether the girl's name or the boy's name will apply, right at the moment.  I'll keep you posted.

Anyway, Princess is, as I said, my middle child.  She grew up with a big brother, My Son.  My Son has moved half way across the country for the time being.  It may be permanent, it may not.  And while part of this mother's heart is going to miss him terribly, the bigger part knows that he was always the kid who sought adventure wherever he could find it, and whose feet were never still for long.  So I know this is part of his story, and something he needs to do.  I look forward to hearing about his adventures, and I'll try to share some of them with you.

Princess also grew up with a little sister, Peaches.  Peaches has generally been considered by all to be my mini-me.  And so I guess she is.  She has a warmth and charm and beauty that is all her own, tho.  Peaches and Princess are generally the very best of friends, and it has been a joy watching the three of my children grow up together.

They grew up in a military home, my Darling Husband served for 20 years in the military, and was consequently gone quite often.  But he's retired now, and we are enjoying being civilians in a military community.

That is quite a long background on all of us, and I appreciate that you are still here reading.  As I said Princess suggested I should write a blog a couple years ago, and today, I realized what I should write about.  It is these everyday things that happen that bring so much joy to my life.  Darling and I are just getting over a bout of a stomach virus, and as I was opening windows to let in fresh air, and doing laundry this morning, the thought crossed my mind 'It's such a joy to be feeling better today!...Yes, I guess it's an everyday joy, but it's a joy, nonetheless.'  And there it was.  The title to the long-awaited blog.  The thing I can write about every day, over and over, and never run out of material. Or inspiration. Or excitement.  Everyday joys.  The things that all of us sometimes overlook that bring so much joy and hope to our lives, if only we will take a moment to notice them.

I hope you will join me on this journey to see all the things that show up in my life to be joyful about.  And I hope at least some of them will help you find things in your own life that bring joy to you, as well.