“The waves are HUGE! White caps! Come look!” Todd sounded like a little boy discovering the water for the first time.
“Where?” I said walking into the room not yet awake.
“There! Oop…here comes another set!”
It looked more like a ripple to me but we see things as we want to see them, don’t we? “Wow!” I stood and watched. “Listen to that.” I love the sound of water slapping on the shore.
“They’re he-uge!”
I looked at his face then, filled with feigned wonder, and gave him a kiss.
“The roar of the surf is deafening and look at the sparkly sunrise. Isn’t it better without the bushes?”
“Yes.” He’d spent the day before removing the overgrowth as I took naps and made eggplant parmigiana. It’s no secret that my husband and I often see things differently. I took a seat on the porch and opened my little red book. Is it funny that it said, Live in the unseen. Lift up your heads from the earth’s troubles and view the glories of Heaven.?
Think less. Listen more.
The sound of Todd’s guitar comes to me then–his music and the sound of the water, God’s music, intertwined, both touching my heart. One by one, the words, once again, begin to make their way to my paper as our feral cat, Mary, peaks through the porch door. She has been afraid of her new surroundings and hid in the basement for days when we first arrived at the cabin this week. We had to lock her out to keep her up. “Come here, Mary,” I say as she mews. “See the beauty. Come out on the porch with me.” I’m so afraid my own heart will stay stuck grieving the loss of my dad. I look out over the sparkly water and listen to its gentle lull. I sense then the fingers playing on the strings of my heart.
Mary still stands at the door. She hears it too and walks across the porch to take a spot in the sun. Her fear apparently gone.
It doesn’t have to be fancy. Let your new song be simple but let your heart start to sing again, I think to myself.
“Oh ho HO! Huge waves!” I hear from across the main room of the cabin. And then my triplet of laughter echoes his words and it’s a trio–Todd’s, God’s and mine. Together, we made a new song.