A.Connector

Sometimes being a parent has it’s unexpected rewards or serendipity factor. The other day my son Kevin mentioned to me in passing (he was in the rush out the door mode for school) that he likes the, “what’s that us and what song on Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon?” I correctly filled in the missing blanks with, “Us and Them.” He said that he loved that song. I quickly mentioned what a truly symphonic experience “Dark Side” is and how it combined psychedelic, progressive and symphonic elements seemlessly. He nodded agreement and disappeared off to school.

I never “preached” my musical gospel to him. Clearly, some of it has gotten to him by osmosis. So it’s not interesting that he should know about this music, especially since we share the computer I’m typing this on. What is interesting is that he should choose to embrace it and like a lot of what I like. Maybe this is pater-narcissism but fulfilling nonertheless.

One other recent shared musical experience we had was at the Taichung Jazz Festival (picture above is from that). I highly recommend experiencing music together with your loved ones. It’s both a rich and substantive activity.

As I near the mid century mark of my life(still over a year but I check on teh clendar from time to time) certain things become much more apparent. The little ordinary things in life often provide the most meaning and joy. Case in point-my son had a virus the other day and was pretty miserable after having an exam at school(Confucius must have loved exams because Chinese schools are forever giving them). His mom decided to heat up some oranges for him since the Chinese recognize citrus fruits as “cold foods” and not suitable for respiratory conditions unless heated. I went to my old school move(thanks Nana for teaching me) and did the Jewish penicillin thingie: chicken soup.

Well he was doing worlds better the next morning and my wife checked his homework entry for that day. In it was, “I’m a very fortunate child, my mom made me heated oranges and my dad made a batch of chicken soup just for me because I was sick. I’ll be rocking that one for a long time to come.