Silent Moments

Blog Hop #10—Silent Moments

Three o’clock in the afternoon.  Ahhhhh, three o’clock in the afternoon.  It’s summertime and the sound of children’s laughter fills the air.  The family directly across the street has six children under the age of 10.  To the east of that house, they have three children roughly the same age.  Between the two houses they have three electric jeeps, two electric Barbie cars and more bicycles and tricycles than the average Toys-R-Us.  The whine of those electric jeeps and cars is as incessant as the hum of the cassias, just ten times louder, and not in the distance, and not accompanied by crying.

Three o’clock in the afternoon. Down the block live the older kids, preteens.  The oldest got his first set of drums last week.  He doesn’t have the rhythm down yet, but at least he tries.  When his younger brother is allowed to bang-on-the-drums-all-day….for hours on end….unrythmicly…loud….

Three o’clock in the afternoon.  The gardeners at the nearby condominium complex have ceased the mowing/blowing/back hoeing/cutting/chopping for the day. You can hear the various motors hissing to a halt.  Glad to be turned off and allowed to cool down for a while.

Three o’clock in the afternoon.  I enjoy the noisy hub-bub of urban life.  I adore hearing the laughter of children.  I do tend to snicker when certain ones get their boo-boos.  I even admire the imagination I get to witness and sometimes join in with.  I am allowed a little voyeurism to help me remember the joy of my own youth.  Watching the neighborhood children grow is an honor I wouldn’t want to miss.

Three o’clock in the afternoon.  Only the occasional fly or bird passes me by.  A hush falls into the neighborhood. I sit on the back deck with the umbrella opened up.  It doesn’t matter if the sun beats on me.  I relish this hour.  This is the hour the littlest ones have been put down for a nap and the older kids are inside spending their own quality time with Mom.  I get to reflect on the day’s activities and ponder tomorrow’s weather.  These are my silent moments. My favorite time of the day.