The Bedtime Train

Since I'm using this blog to preserve personal family memories, I thought I'd mention the latest bedtime routine that Noah and I have.  It goes something like this:

ME: (making train noises as Mommy gives Noah his imaginary golden ticket)  All aboard!  Tickets please!

NOAH: (extending the ticket to me)  Here you go!

ME: (closely inspecting the ticket)  Another golden ticket!?!  Someone must love you VERY much!

NOAH: (grinning from ear to ear) My momma does!

ME: (punches ticket and hands it back before picking Noah up in my arms)  LAST CALL!!!

NOAH AND ME: (as Noah pretends to pull the train whistle)  WHOO WHOO!!!!  (singing together as we make our way upstairs) "All aboard the bedtime train....."

It varies sometimes, but Noah loves the routine!  Of course, he enjoys it more if there is a story still to be told as he's tucked in.  Sometimes the story is from a book, but more often than not, it's from DADDY'S BOOK OF TRULY INCREDIBLE TALES OF ADVENTURE.  But that's another post entirely for another time.  :-)

Leaving Fall...

The foliage this year has been absolutely beautiful.  Most years, the majority of the leaves would have fallen by now, leaving mostly barren trees as a portend of the approaching winter.  Yes, it has peaked, and the annual stampede of leafpeepers have dissipated, returning to wherever they have come from.  But the foliage remains.

I had wanted to take long car rides this fall, armed with my trusty camera, and capture the beauty that is northern New Hampshire in the fall.  Unfortunately, problems with both of our vehicles have left us restricted to our local community.  Nevertheless, I've taken a few pictures here and there, mostly pre-peak and post-peak, but more than I have in recent years.

Earlier today, Noah and I were out for a quick ride to Grammie's house, and I thought to grab my camera.  In the short five minute ride, I managed to get a few fairly decent shots in, stopping the car several times along the way.

"Dad," Noah piped up from the back seat, "why do you keep stopping to take so many pictures of the leaves?!"

I expressed to him how beautiful I thought they were, and how I wanted to try to capture the breathtaking imagery of the late afternoon sunlight streaming through the still-colorful leaves.  Then it occurred to me -- the next time I would see the leaves again would be through the eyes of a 40-year-old.

I still haven't resolved how I'm feeling about this particular transition in my life, but at the moment, I seem to be at peace about the whole thing.  Of course, that may change as the days and months pass, but for now, I'm not nearly as worked up about it as I imagined I would be by now.

Anyway, back to the leaves...

Autumn is precious to me, altogether too short, but sweet nonetheless.  The sights of the changing leaves coupled with the crispness of the air evokes many warm memories of years gone by.  Fall, to me, has always been like a visit from an old friend who happens to be in town for a few days, a time of reminiscing and of remembering, but most of all, just the peaceful joy of enjoying the season for what it is.

Stocking Up

One of the purposes of this blog is to chronicle some of the fleeting details of life that can't quite be captured in pictures or video. On that note, I wanted to preserve one of the sweetest exchanges that Noah and I regularly have when I (or he) is leaving for part of the day.

Simply put, we make sure that we are stocked up on our hugs, kisses, "I love you"s, stories, songs, adventures, etc. for the day. I "put" several of the aforementioned things into my hand, and hand them over to him for safekeeping until he decides to draw from them throughout the day.

Before long, he was reciprocating and trading off with me when we would say our goodbyes. I just wish I could wrap them up and keep them in a box somewhere as keepsakes of his childhood. Then again, I suppose I am already doing that in the memory keepsake box that is my heart. :)

The "List"

As part of Noah's bedtime routine, Mom usually spends some time with him downstairs, cuddling with him on the couch and singing songs to him. Daddy then tucks him into bed, and spends some time with him, reading to him, telling him stories, or talking about the day's events.

One particular night, Noah asked if we could talk about something. "Sure, bud," I replied, "What would you like to talk about?" Much to my surprise, he pretended to be unscrolling a list, and said, "Let's see, three things from my list..." while reviewing it. "Here's one! How does electricity get to the lamp?"

Since then, we frequently draw our bed-time conversations from "the list", which has since grown into the "long list" and the "short list". I can't exactly explain the difference between the two, other than that he likes to ask at least one question from both lists. Fortunately, more often than not, I've been able to somewhat answer the questions adequately. I admit, though, I've had to just smile and respond "I don't know the answer to that. We'll have to look it up tomorrow." Which he usually holds me to!

Let the Earth Be Laughter

Inspired by the recent worship conference I had attended, I stopped at the church and picked up my guitar to take back to the house. Noah saw it, and said, "Oh, you brought your guitar home so you and me can play guitar together, Daddy?"

"Sure, bud," I said with a smile, "We can play guitar together." So, after a while, he and I played a few songs from church before moving on to a video game. Later, though, he brought his guitar into the kitchen where I was and said, "I wrote a song." He then proceeded to sing me a sweet song about sunshine and playing, while strumming his guitar.

I had heard it said that God perceives our songs in the same way. The best of our skills and abilities don't hold a candle to the choirs of angels ministering before His throne day and night, but it is not so much our skills and abilities He's moved by. It is our heart's song, expressed through a simple act of free will choosing to honor Him, that touches His heart.

Of course, I'd heard that before, and I believe I even referenced it once or twice when speaking about worship, but hearing the sweet voice of my son singing from his heart a song he made up gave me a much greater appreciation for the analogy.

I told Noah I'd like to record his song, and set up the digital voice recorder. Instead of singing his song he had sang for me a moment earlier, he decided to sing another song he wrote. The main part of the song consisted of "Let the earth be laughter" and "Let the earth be worthy and rejoice to the King". As he explained to me when we were done, he wants to write songs about God.

We listened to the recorded song together, as we began to sing along, I thought again about the precious gift that God gave to me in my son. At that moment, singing and making music together, we were continuing a father-son connection that had begun when I was a little boy listening with proud wonder as my dad poured himself into his music. I remember watching his fingers create such beautiful sounds, be it guitar, bass, or piano, and wishing I could do the same.

Now, I watch my (almost) 5-year-old son creating his own beautiful sounds, and find myself wishing I could see the world with the same purity and simplicity of heart that he does. Tonight, however, my world truly is laughter and rejoicing to the King.

The Last Mile (reflections on the start of a new year)

It's so hard to believe that not only is it 2007 already, but we're almost halfway into the first month. I could say something very cliche here about time going by faster every year, and so on and so forth, but I won't. I could write about New Year's resolutions, and their subsequent failures, but I won't.

Instead, I just want to take a moment to note a couple of milestones that will be taking place this year. My oldest nephew, Dan, will be 16. My oldest niece, Jennifer, will be 18 and leaving for college. My son will be 5. And I will be 39, the last mile to go before cresting the proverbial hill.

Okay, so I'm being a little dramatic on that last point. I hear that 40 is the new 30. That worries me a bit, as I had a bit of an emotional difficulty turning 30. Which reminds me of an old joke that made the e-mail rounds a few years back:

"Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to get old is when we're kids? If you're less than 10 years old, you're so excited about aging that you think in fractions. How old are you?.... "I'm four and a half" .... You're never 36 and a half .... you're four and a half going on five!

That's the key. You get into your teens, now they can't hold you back. You jump to the next number. How old are you? "I'm gonna be 16." You could be 12, but you're gonna be 16.

And then the greatest day of your life happens .... you become 21. Even the words sound like a ceremony .... you BECOME 21 ... YES!!!

But then you turn 30 .... ooohhh what happened there? Makes you sound like bad milk .... He TURNED, we had to throw him out. There's no fun now.

What's wrong?? What changed?? You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you're PUSHING 40 ..... stay over there, it's all slipping away ........

You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, you're PUSHING 40, you REACH 50 ..... and your dreams are gone.

Then you MAKE IT to 60 ..... you didn't think you'd make it!!!!

So you BECOME 21, you TURN 30, you're PUSHING 40, you REACH 50, you MAKE IT to 60 ...... then you build up so much speed you HIT 70!

After that, it's a day by day thing. After that, you HIT Wednesday .... You get into your 80's, you HIT lunch. My grandmother won't even buy green bananas .... it's an investment you know, and maybe a bad one.

And it doesn't end there .... into the 90's you start going backwards .... I was JUST 92 ...

Then a strange thing happens. If you make it over 100, you become a little kid again .... "I'm 100 and a half!!!!""

-- author unknown

I imagine I'll probably be writing a fair amount about this looming milestone in my life over the next year, but don't get me wrong. I'm enjoying every season of my life, and I know the best is yet to come. I just wish time would slow down a little bit...

Why "Keepers of the Memories"?

Just in case anybody was remotely interested...

My wife and I are the unoffical "Keepers of the Memories" in our family. Michelle scrapbooks, and I am one of those sorts who is never without a camera (digital or video) at every family event, social function, and random moment in life. I have videos going back to 1989, when my niece was just a tiny baby, and thousands of digital pictures from the past five years or so, especially since the arrival of our son.

Of course, all the archived memories in the world aren't worth much if they are not looked at from time to time and shared with others. Michelle has created a stack of scrapbooks, and so this blog is my attempt to do something similar, but different.

I've tried keeping a diary or a journal on and off since I was just a kid, but I've never been successful at chronicling the little things. In fact, I remember one year when I started off the year with some great in-depth writing about the different things I had done that day, but within a short time, I was just scribbling "School" or "No school" on each day's page in an effort to allay the guilt I felt from not writing every day.

So, my only rule here is that there are no rules. I can write when I want, however often (or not) I want, and not feel guilty for keeping the blog up-to-date. My hopes are that I write something of some value from time to time, but I'm not even holding my breath on that one.

But... you never know...