Harmonies of Life

I'm a harmony appreciating kind of girl. A musical scale is like a puzzle. There are 8 tones of a scale. In any given key, certain steps of that scale compliment each other if sung or played at the same time. Other tones sound absolutely awful if played together. I have always innately heard the tones that add to the melody, and even if they aren't there, I sing them. This is great fun, to sing the harmony part that could have been written. In songs where there is more than one harmony part (heaven), I have to skip from one harmony part to another, or maybe add another. The harmony absolutely makes a song in my view. Give me a song...here is the melody being sung. Nice. I like the lyrics. Oh, I am liking the groove. Nice strings or brass in the background. All of a sudden, here is the chorus and WOW! Two more voices singing with him. Oh! Listen how tight that harmony is. So sweet. Those notes are so close together and blend and add so much power. Aaaaahhhh. Let me listen to that again.

Here's my point. Just as the harmony adds so much to the feel, strength and appreciation of a song or a melody, I have always liked to appreciate or see the harmonies in life. These are the small moments or snapshots that add so much to my life. So, in the normal course of my day, small things have always made me happy. These things layer on top of each other to make a rich life, regardless of the melody or the big details of my life. I could live anywhere, Brett could have any job, I could live in any house, my kids could go to any school, I could do any number of things this weekend, but those small moments worth appreciating would still be there.

All of this leads me to yesterday. Here's an example.

Sydney asked me to take her to a friend's house about 4:30 p.m. The kids were all home from school. As I was driving home, I almost turned into my street and then just had a feeling/desire to keep driving and take a 10 minute detour. I knew Ali had Kate and that I would probably be in for a night of colic, so why not take a moment to enjoy my own self for a bit? I also had some things I was thinking about which is always so much easier to do by yourself. Finally, I was in Brett's zippy car, not my big suburban, and Crowded House was playing so what could I do? I couldn't cut Crowded House off mid song, could I? So, I rolled down all of the windows, opened the sun roof and this is what I saw 30 seconds away from my street.

This is what I saw 1 minute past my street.

This is what I saw as I looked up from inside the car and out the sun roof.

This is what I saw 2 minutes from my home when I stepped out of my car (after I waited for the song to stop of course).

I wish I could import the smell too. Just believe me, it smelled so good there. The sound. How can you match the sound of water moving in the mountains?

I couldn't believe I was there, in the mountains a mere 2 minutes from my house. Now THAT is a harmony of life. I wonder how many people don't ever get out of their car long enough to go for a walk up there and listen and smell and see.

Well, after 10 minutes, I felt totally rejuvenated and ready to go home.

When I got home, I found this...

This moment was another harmony of life. Ali said, "Mom, I have been singing softly to her and she was looking right into my eyes this close and smiling at me. Mom, it made me cry." As she was telling me this story, she teared up and I could tell how much this simple thing of her new little baby sister smiling at her for the first time as she sang to her had touched her. Maybe I was supposed to be gone for those ten minutes just so Ali could have this experience. I love this picture, because you can see the tears in Ali's eyes.

I am so grateful for being touched by simple things. I know it might sound childish, but it has really made me happy. This reminds me of the quote..."Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things." The movie UP has the sweetest moment when the old man finds the adventure book which was supposed to contain the "big" things he was going to do in his life. (The masters degree I haven't earned yet, the countries I haven't visited yet, the music I haven't written yet, the house with the pool, treehouse and entertainment center I haven't bought yet). He thought the book would be empty, only to see that his wife had filled it with the adventures he did have. These were all of the harmonies, the small moments and things that had filled his life. These were the moments he had never appreciated or seen for what they were, because he was always looking at what he hadn't done yet, not at what he had. Well, I am rambling on. For a final harmony, the beauty of this picture below. Maddie and Kate. If I could only put that to music...