Low Eh!

It’s been a beautiful summer! It’s been a busy summer! It’s been a summer on the golf course, teaching at Carleton University’s camps, and most importantly, a summer to be with my kids.

From September to June, we run in opposite directions – their school, my school, their activities, my work, and concerts, but since that’s all concluded, I’ve been taking advantage of the time.

I’m sitting on my front step, watching my kids at the park – listening to the shrieks of joy on the slide, eavesdropping on their grand plans to meet up with their friends, and watching their creativity explode when they create different play scenarios on the same play structure that they use daily.

I don’t need to be out here – they’ve been playing on their own (semi-supervised. Haha!) most of the summer – they know the rules. There’s something inspiring about being a fly on the wall for their uninhibited play.

I’ve taken to composing small sketches, completing arrangements, and the monotonous tasks as well – emails and the like. I’ve caught so many ideas that develop organically from being in the sun, as opposed to my office, or at the piano, or at the dining room table. The clanks off of the metal bars at the park, the cars driving by, the kids exclamations when their friends show up unexpectedly – for this musician-dad, it’s an environment of inspiration.