As I sit in the quiet with the windows open, the sounds outside remind me of the changes in my sphere. My neighbor plays her recorder with abandon on this first day of the school year. Suddenly, my mind jumps back to several years ago in this same house. I listened to each of my kids happily discover the joy of exploring this instrument. They fidgeted around, like she does, trying to create familiar tunes and listening to the way their breath helpes create sound.
This is the second time the landscape changed next door since our family planted roots here twenty four years ago. Each time, the new life sprouts up in different ways. Currently, the sights and sounds of young children remind me of where I once was and where I am now.
The seasons of parenting all have their variety of days. There were moments that felt long and dark. Sometimes the idea of getting up the next morning to experience another one felt overwhelming. But scattered throughout the years, were moments of joyful collaboritive discoveries of the beauty of this life. Watching your child explore the world around them through their senses is magical. It refreshes any of our own that have grown stagnant.
I love living in an intergenerational neighborhood. Because I need it. Revisiting the seasons of life through new narratives brings me joy. I share in the excitement of the neighbor girl losing her tooth and laugh at her story about the tooth fairy forgetting her tooth. That happened in our house too.
My children are now young adults. People say “the days are long and the years are short.” That feels true. But I am thankful to have the opportunity to relive some of those days with a new generation. It reminds me of the welcoming spaces created for life to bloom, theirs and mine.
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I am a music teacher and taught recorder to primary aged students for many years so glad your kids experience was a happy one as I do believe the recorder establishes a strong musical root system.
Yes, it’s a simply, delightful way to introduce kids to music. I remember it from my childhood. My three also learned piano and one was in band until junior high. Both my husband and I had music lessons and recognize the impact musical skills have on all learning. Thank you!
The years are long, the days are short,
and that gets really frightening,
and makes me want to take a snort
of Uncle Jed’s white lightning
to soften up the impact
of all that passing time
that don’t leave nothing quite intact,
and that does seem a crime.
But if I take the old cracked mug
of good hunnert-proof glory,
and drink it down with just one chug,
I’ll miss the whole dang story
about how the past must be torn
afore the new stuff can be born.
Indeed!
Love that picture of the two giggling girls.
It really jumped out at me and reminded me of my neighbors.