Mike- I’m excited to read what you have to write in the weeks/years ahead. Your post reminds me of a feeling i had at some point during the COVID lockdown. I had this sense that as time passes it will surely be remembered as hard/terrible etc.. but in that moment I was seeing the little gold in the time we spent together as a family and the family book club we had created. I made a note in my notes app to help me remember that feeling since i thought with time it might be washed away in my memory by the bigger waves of the pandemic.
Thanks, Nicole. And yeah, that idea of the moments of joy that appear amidst the hard times (the feel inevitable) is definitely something I want to try to be mindful of and capture here. And man, the day to day lived reality of the covid lockdowns - something I still don't think we've adequately grappled with as a society!
I keep turning over in my head how you start this reflection by mentioning memorizing poems. And how I don’t think I have a single entire poem memorized. Maybe a really short shel Silverstein (hug of war?) is in there somewhere. Some scripture. But what I mostly have memorized is 1) every song my parents or aunts or uncles sang at bedtime or campfires, 2) 1980s-90s hymnody, 3) all of my dialogue from shows I was in [redacted] years ago, and 4) entire children’s books. ‘I am a bunny. My name is Nicholas and I live in a hollow tree...’ Apparently I have to recite/sing something umpteen times for it to stick.
Mike, thank you for calling our attention to "dawn goes down to day." My favorite time of day starts almost an hour before sunrise; I love watching the sky change blues, then that glorious burst of color. Now I understand my waning interest once the sun's full up!
Thanks, Christine - I am not particularly a morning person, but on the rare occasions that I do get up before the dawn (which are usually spurred by early morning anxious brain, more than anything else), it can be really lovely to sit in the darkness and wait for the coming of the light. There's a unique peacefulness that is possible then
Ha, I definitely thought of you when I was picturing the small number of people who'd meet in the middle of these particular circles:) And yeah, Hopkins is the best - thanks for sharing this beautiful arrangement!
Mike- I’m excited to read what you have to write in the weeks/years ahead. Your post reminds me of a feeling i had at some point during the COVID lockdown. I had this sense that as time passes it will surely be remembered as hard/terrible etc.. but in that moment I was seeing the little gold in the time we spent together as a family and the family book club we had created. I made a note in my notes app to help me remember that feeling since i thought with time it might be washed away in my memory by the bigger waves of the pandemic.
Looking forward to what you write!
Thanks, Nicole. And yeah, that idea of the moments of joy that appear amidst the hard times (the feel inevitable) is definitely something I want to try to be mindful of and capture here. And man, the day to day lived reality of the covid lockdowns - something I still don't think we've adequately grappled with as a society!
I keep turning over in my head how you start this reflection by mentioning memorizing poems. And how I don’t think I have a single entire poem memorized. Maybe a really short shel Silverstein (hug of war?) is in there somewhere. Some scripture. But what I mostly have memorized is 1) every song my parents or aunts or uncles sang at bedtime or campfires, 2) 1980s-90s hymnody, 3) all of my dialogue from shows I was in [redacted] years ago, and 4) entire children’s books. ‘I am a bunny. My name is Nicholas and I live in a hollow tree...’ Apparently I have to recite/sing something umpteen times for it to stick.
"In the spring, I like to pick the flowers. I chase the butterflies, and the butterflies chase me."
Mike, thank you for calling our attention to "dawn goes down to day." My favorite time of day starts almost an hour before sunrise; I love watching the sky change blues, then that glorious burst of color. Now I understand my waning interest once the sun's full up!
Thanks, Christine - I am not particularly a morning person, but on the rare occasions that I do get up before the dawn (which are usually spurred by early morning anxious brain, more than anything else), it can be really lovely to sit in the darkness and wait for the coming of the light. There's a unique peacefulness that is possible then
I'm with you in that Venn Diagram dot but your footnote already seems to know that. When I think about fall poems I think of this one, too, of course, which my brother set to music during his college years. https://klaskeymusic.com/composition/spring-fall-to-a-young-child-for-soprano-chamber-ensemble/
Mike, that piece is excellent! And I am now looking forward to exploring your brother’s work. Thanks for prompting me to (re)download SoundCloud!
Ha, I definitely thought of you when I was picturing the small number of people who'd meet in the middle of these particular circles:) And yeah, Hopkins is the best - thanks for sharing this beautiful arrangement!