Our house

As I write, I am enjoying the sight and sound of Paul's reunion with his guitar. It's been a long time since he's played at home. While we were in Prince Rupert, the guitar stayed at the office as he often had it there to prepare for Sunday worship services. Tonight he finally pulled it out from under our bed and hung it on the wall in the living room. He tuned it and is strumming and humming. I'm really proud of how he's taught himself to play. He's humble about it, but is really quite good. I wonder if it's easier to pick it up again now that his hands are rough and calloused from his hard work every day.

Max also got a guitar today. We went out to Vancouver for a visit with my friend Holly and her kids. She and I were both sad that we had only seen each other twice in the 8 months we've lived within an hour of each other. We used to spend every day together as kids in school. We can't do that anymore, but were really feeling the need to cultivate more memories, now including our own kids. My boys each fell in love with one of their toys. Marty claimed "Backpack", of Dora the Explorer. He wore it around the house for at least an hour, maybe two. He picked up on a new word at the same time, saying "Ba-pa" while he proudly showed off his treasure. Max took quite a liking to a small electronic guitar that has several programmed songs, sounds and flashing lights. I'm not usually fond of these kind of toys, but he sure liked it. He even asked if he could take it home. Imagine his surprise when Holly told him that she had a brand new one, almost exactly the same, tucked away in the closet. Sammy had been given two so they saved on for someone else who might like it. This was the day, Max was the one! He showed it off to Paul when he came home and talked about it through supper. Maybe that's what prompted Paul to get his out.

Now they are sitting in the living room, each with his guitar. Max casually commented, "There's music in our house."

Indeed there is. It fills the house and warms my soul.