To Sing
When I was a young child, I sang often. Walking around the gentle rolling landscape of our family farm. Feeling the sun mixed with dirt filled breezes upon my face, creating a connection to Mother Nature. The sun kissed dirty breeze urging my heart to reply. I answered in song. The farm yard, close to the house, is where I sang the most. My favourite singing was when I sang in the rain.

Orange is the new Black (for the sole)
I wore black rubber boots with dark orange rubber soles. We couldn’t afford fancy rubber boots, besides they just got covered with mud and manure, I had working rubber on my feet. I liked my black rubber boots. The whole family had them, different sizes of course, but all the same. Sometimes when mine were really dirty or wet, I would slide my feet into another pair. Being the youngest, all the others were way larger than mine, I had to run with my legs outstretched like a long jump contestant, so that the large boots wouldn’t fall off. My thighs would hurt, but not as much as my arm after my sibling had twisted it for wearing and getting their boots dirty. I would just laugh. Wearing my black rubber boots with the dark orange soles, I was a budding opera singer, or more likely, the newest pop singer just waiting for a talent agent to drive out into our farmyard and offer a contract.

Sesame Street
I would sing the theme song to Sesame Street, my favourite! The rain pouring at times, making cracking sounds against my plastic hooded rain coat. I did have a really cool purple raincoat. It was transparent, so you could make out the warm blue coat I wore underneath the thin purple transparent plastic of my raincoat. It was purple and it was mine. “Sunny Days, keeping the clouds away,” I would laugh and jump two feet at a time into every puddle. I would hum the rest of the song, when I really had to concentrate on my two feet plunge into the muddy abyss that used to be our yard. Sometimes I would fall, I did not like that. The mud would often be cold on my bare hands, but if it was a warm rain, I liked it a lot. I liked it a lot. I would imagine falling into warm chocolate pudding, it felt soft and malleable and it was warm, just like the rain. I made small connective canals between the puddles, using a tree branch I would find lying around on the ground. I would tell stories of travel and of bravery, as the canals would become blocked and I would save them, helping the water to flow between puddles.

Valley of the Ducks
There was a gentle decline in landscape in our yard. The tiny decline lead to a small valley by the barn and it was perfect for making fast flowing canals. Our ducks would play in the mud pond that would form in the valley spot, in front of the barn door. “Quack”, and the conversational “ack, ack, ack “I imagined them discussing how delicious the chocolate pudding was. “Phrrt”, the sound of ducks motor-boating through the water, as they filtered the mud through their beaks.

The Cool Chick
Sometimes I would venture into the chicken coop, my most favourite place, rain or shine. I would sing to the chickens, my chickens, oh how I loved chickens. Sitting high on the roost that leaned against the one wall in the coop, I would sing many songs, many of them were made up, originals crafted by me, inspired by the clucking support around me. For hours, I would hang out there, I was the cool chick. The hen house would be rocking, my feather friends, the perfect audience. The brown hens would turn their heads as they listened to my songs, responding with their inquisitive squawks. Were they asking me what I was saying or were they joining in? I always thought it was both. It was pleasurable to be among them. I would create names and stories about each one of them. Their egg laying diaries penned by me, their personalities captured in the pages of my notebook. “Sunny days, keeping the clouds away…….”

I hope you enjoyed my personal reflection. With springtime upon us, I wanted to share, and provide a brief escape from the flux of everyday life. Be well, hugs to all. Let’s keep looking for the gems.

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Sesame Street “Sunny Days…”