Jupiter or Mars

Over the Easter holidays I watched my two youngest grandchildren while their pre-school was closed. I picked them up, on the four days that I watched them, at the building (what they call their mom's place of work) at around 9 AM. On the ride back to my house the two of them loved to chat. For the first 10 minutes I heard about everything that had gone on since I saw them last, and then one of them would ask me to put on some music. They usually want "The Moose and the Bear", "Beatles for Kids" or "Broadway Kids". These are all on my Ipod; however, I have again broken the device that connects my Ipod to the car radio. This week we listened to CD's that are in my car. I only have 2 CD's in the car and they are both done by a friend of mine who both the little ones have met and the older one remembers. The children listened to parts of these CD's for about 30 minutes each morning. On the last day I watched them, which was this past Tuesday, the older of the two was walking around playing, coloring, looking at books and all of the other things she does, and I realized she was humming and singing something. I payed a little more attention to what she was singing and heard her singing parts of the song "Sand Dancing" " ... sand dancing .... Jupiter and Mars....." I gave her a hug and we pretended we were dancing in the sand, and she then asked me what is Jupiter and Mars. I told her they were planets. Then she asked if my friend lived on Jupiter and Mars. I stopped for a minute and had to think about the question, and then I answered - maybe sometimes, but then told her she really lives in Key West. My granddaughter has been to Key West a few times, and to all of the grandkids it is a special place - to them it is far away - almost like another planet.

That question got me thinking - I guess sometimes we all could use a little time in outer space. Where our outer spaces are don't need to be as far away as Jupiter and Mars, but I think we all need our getaways. We can create them in our own homes. A chair next to a fireplace, a sunny window nook for winter thinking, a blanket next to the trunk of a weeping willow tree for summer reading. As the weather begins to warm I remember the days of summer before anyone I knew had air-conditioning. One of the memories I have is the setting up of tables outdoors in the shade. It didn't matter if it was in the front or back yard - under a carport - behind the kitchen - the only requirement was that it had shade almost all day. I can picture the grandpas sitting outside playing cards, arguing politics, telling jokes usually in a language I didn't understand and enjoying their outer spaces. As these memories are over 50 years old, I remember the women in the kitchen preparing meals early in the day and doing as much as they could out doors in some shady spot. These memories take me to a place very foreign from today's life style - almost like another planet. I am not saying I want to recreate those days for myself - I really don't, but I am so happy I have those memories.

Somewhere in all these words I have a point. I think it is, I hope that 50 plus years from now one of my grandchildren will be sitting somewhere with fond memories of moments I helped make for them. Thanks LT for the song that touched a four year old and the fun she and I had with it. We may have both created for her a memory that will still make her heart warm when she remembers it 50 plus years from now.