Tag Archives: music

A Listening Day: SOL23 Day 11

Today was a listening day. After yesterday’s afternoon and overnight rain, today dawned gray and foggy. But if I have a choice about taking my walk around the neighborhood or heading to the beach, I’m at the beach–regardless of weather.

The clouds hung low, almost touching the ground. Nearby cliffs smudged the perimeter while foamy waves rushed the shore. Without dazzling views illuminating every shade of blue, my ears took on the prime role today.

I match my breaths to the breaths of the sea, in and out, again and again. My feet begin to feel the rhythm of the bass as my ears fill with the hushed music of water. Worries take flight, joining the osprey riding the gentle currents over my head. My brain quiets as I listen to ocean’s song.

When I emerge from my private sound studio, I am calm and reenergized, ready to take on the weekend chores in front of me. My daily walk doubles as meditation today, an exercise in listening and breathing, soaking up sound and nature while my body moves in syncopated motion. I love when my walk feels like a mini vacation.

I’m Not a Music Person: NPM22 Day 3

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On this third day of National Poetry Month, #verselove via Ethical ELA focused on the idea of collaborative inspiration. I love the way that Gae and Lori inspired each other by “poeming” each other and then using the poem as a starting point for their own writing. I definitely felt poemed this morning as I read through the poems already scattered by the participants in this month-long poetry fest. It’s interesting to me that I’m not sure exactly what triggered my own piece…and idea, a word, a comment left by someone on one of the poems…

I’m Not a Music Person
I’m not a music person says the one
who keeps the radio set on talk
Until…
the first strains of Fur Elise transport her back to childhood
and the roommate–the stocky second (or third) hand upright
where her hands learned to make music
Until…
rifs from Take the A Train and other classic jazz
set her toes to tapping and fingers snapping
and she remembers listening to them move from noise to music
and that unexpected Christmas morning duet,
a gift from the heart
Until…she bursts into song (off key of course)
when The Sound of Music comes on TV
and her sons are dumbfounded that she knows
all the words
Until…
grandbabies come and she croons to them
the lullabies from her childhood and their fathers’ childhoods
tunes traced through neuronal pathways
I’m not a music person
until the music comes on
until the music plays
I might be a music person
@kd0602

Wave Song: SOL22 Day 17

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I hear them call from a distance, a ripple swish invitation to come and play.

We dance on the shoreline, chasing one another, pulling me closer then pushing me back while all the time singing a song of water and moon in my ear.

Some moments are a whisper, secrets of the sea lapping on the shore. Sun drenched stretches shattering the light into a million sparking diamonds.

And then there is the soaring chorus, pounding percussion in the background. Walloping drum rolls with cymbal crashes as the white foam curves and curls, unfurling toward the shoreline.

I notice the standing ovation in the background and the chants of encore as I prepare to leave.

Even as I walk away, the echoes continue to sound in my ears. The wave song beckons me in, sends me off, and calls me back with a melody that constantly changes with a rhythm I never forget.