Silence

The visiting family has gone off to Great America today, joining Arne, Karna and their cousins there.  Bob and I are happy to stay home.  Sitting here, we find the silence is deafening.  It has almost a physical presence.  In music the spaces between the notes are the most profound actually making the music.  We just don’t pay attention to the silence, rather we usually rush from note to note.  For example, the silent pause at the end of a symphony before the conductor drops his baton, is the loudest, and when the conductor slowly lets the moment of silence go,  then the audience roars with applause and I let out my breath.  We have been having so much fun every day.  There is always someone to do something with, as is said, “There’s never a dull moment.”  Wednesday, Bob went with the girls and Paul to the Exploratorium in San Francisco.  There were only five seats in the car. They had a marvelous time but the fruits of the stimulating visit were seen yesterday.  Checking out what Bob was up to in the shop, Sonja told Bob she wanted to make a large Spirograph like the one they had seen at the Exploratorium.  Together with materials Bob has saved for many years, they created a working one.  It’s not as big as the one at the Exploratorium, but the idea and structure is the same, the weighed board hanging by strings from the rafters and the hinged lever with the pen steady on the side.  Sonja was elated, and ran breathlessly upstairs to announce the creation.  We all had to run downstairs (yes, run) for the demonstration.  Meanwhile Paul was upstairs making a birthday pie for Bob with Elsa.  Listening to them, I was so impressed by how much he let her do the work.  He explained his reasoning for every part of the pie making.  He’s ever the teacher.  Earlier, the girls and I had had a picnic lunch at Codornices Park and afterward they all played on the two-story concrete slide, then climbed trees and played hide and seek.  Everyone’s favorite Uncle arrived from the UK at dinner time and just before we ate, Arne slipped in.  So Bob had a big table with his sons and  his granddaughters here to help him celebrate his birthday.  Just a typical day with the family visiting.  I love having everyone here, but the deafening pause of quiet is a loud reminder of the energy everyone brings when they come.  It is creating the music of the visit.