Sweet sounds & strange sounds

I woke up to the sweet sounds of summer drifting in the open window - mourning doves cooing, woodpeckers pecking and song birds singing cheerily. I was thrilled that I had the time to soak in the sounds of this place another day, to memorize them for some future reminiscence. What a privilege has been mine to live amongst these sounds, to celebrate them as the normal backdrop of my life here. I am so accustomed to these sweet sounds but may I never take them for granted.

Another sound has been surfacing around here the last few days – this one not so familiar – in fact pretty much unheard of until just now. That rare sound we keep noticing is the echoing emptiness in one room after another once all of the furniture has been moved out. How weird. These rooms have never been empty enough to echo before. To the contrary they have been gradually filling up even before construction was completed and for 40 years since.

I am very grateful that the empty echoes do not reverberate in my soul as might easily have happened. Instead, there are mostly soft sighs of joy triggered by memories throughout the spacious rooms.

Interestingly some of the rooms are already filling up again. The new renters needed a place to unload their rental truck so we offered one of the rooms that we had vacated. It is now filled to the ceiling with boxes & beds & couches piled precariously awaiting the moving in of their owners. I find myself excited that these walls will soon be echoing child laughter again and that these floors will feel the patter of little feet running & exploring their new home. And I find myself looking forward to the new sounds that we will discover as we wake up in new places on our journey.

Sweet sounds, strange sounds, soft sighs...