Finally a Saturday with nice weather! We headed out to our usual fun places which includes looking for diggers, the horse barn and the Farmer's Market. We were in for a special surprise at a nearby construction site today!! Most Saturdays no one is working, so we only get to tromp around in the mud and look at the big track hoes and rollers. Today though, we were just about to leave when a huge truck pulls up with a giant some-kind-of-thing-I-have-no-idea-what-it- is, but really really huge construction vehicle. The guys hops out and unlocks the gate and they pull it in to take it off the truck! Very very exciting for David!! This process took about 10 minutes. We thanked the workers for letting us watch and not kicking us off the site, and one of the guys offers to let the kids climb up in the huge vehicle!

David loved it!  He sat in the chair and touched just about every button and control on the dashboard.  He turned he steering wheel a little, and bounced up and down in the seat, and even told me to get down so he could have complete control!  In between his pushing me away, I managed to get a few pictures done. We also got an authentic hard hat  to take home! People can be so nice!

I was very surprised last night to see/hear the reaction BOTH of these kids had to a particular piece of music. Of course, we all know that well written, well performed music can evoke an emotional response. Actually, any music can evoke an emotional response I guess. But I always thought that had a lot to do with our experiences while we listen to some music. And how many movies we have seen.

I'm not just talking about whether a piece of music is pleasurable or not, but an actual emotional upwelling. OK, so what am I talking about? Last night I got home with the kids, and as I was preparing dinner, the kids were coloring and playing with Matchbox firetrucks. I pulled up a podcast from one of my favorite shows, called Radiolab, out of WNYC. This show happened to be about Wagner's Ring opera. They started talking about the second part, Die Walküre. And up comes this most famous piece of music, Ride of the Walkures, or Valkyries in English. Well bith kids stopped, and looked at me. Isabelle says, "Daddy, what's happening?" with a very concerned look on her face. "What's the matter?" David, sensing he's not alone in this feeling, says, "I don't like that! What is that?"
Followed by Isabelle," Daddy? Daddy, what's happening?"

So I turned it down, and I told them it was just a piece of music, and some prettier music would be on soon. I had to catch myself before I went into this diatribe about what was happening in the opera, and who the Walküre are, and thousands of years of Norse myth and so on. But I was also very happy that they were in fact, listening to the music too. And I was kinda amazed that it would have elicited the response it did in them. I mean, we've all seen What's Opera, Doc?  And I saw Apocalypse Now! in the theatre, one with the best surround sound of the day, maybe 15 years ago. And after that, 'Ride of the Walküres', and 'the End' will always have a slightly more powerful impression on me. But these kids have never seen, and thankfully never experienced, anything like that, but the music still raised the hair on the back of their necks. How cool is that?

Now I have to look for music lessons. Hmmm. Piano? Guitar? Kazoo?