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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: Singing (10/31/05)
It isn’t my best morning. It is a Monday. I’m facing half a dozen loads of laundry. I’ve never developed an affinity for this task. It is the repetition that is my undoing. Half way through, it becomes apparent that I need to do something about the silence in which my resentment grows. I slip in a CD. Louis Armstrong’s gravelly voice comes on singing “What a Wonderful World”. Before he’s barely past the first few lines, I’ve hit the track repeat button. I want to hear it a few times over, while I’m sorting, folding and piling.

Louis’ sentiments fill the room. Outside my window, sun glitters on the water. The river ripples by sedately, unrushed in its unending travels. The trees stand motionless, tranquil during this windless hour. The tall prairie grass leans with the weight of its own growth. From where I stand, it looks like a great green quilt, a comforter for the earth. The yards on either side are quiet and deserted. This is a neighborhood that empties out during weekdays.

The washer swishes and whooshes. The dryer hums. The clean dry clothes are warm in my hands. Piece by piece the present pile diminishes, and turns into neat stacks ready for pickup by the wearer. Louis repeats his tune of wonder.

I spy a visitor padding across my back deck. It is the neighbor’s big grey cat passing through on her daily stroll. She stops to peer at me through the window. I smile. For a moment she studies me with suspicion, then on soundless feet pads on. Still smiling, I open my mouth and my alto voice rolls out joining Louis in his singing. The words are reflected in the beauty I witness, and resonate within. The pile of laundry, magically, becomes manageable again. It truly is a wonderful world.
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Member Comments
Member
Date
Linda Watson Owen
11/09/05
A beautiful little vignette of real life!
Ann Stocking
11/09/05
One of my favourite songs and, believe it or not, one of my favourite tasks! Thanks!
Linda Watson Owen
11/14/05
After receiving your 'thank you' I found myself coming back to revisit this 'World'. So glad I did. Your prose is like poetry--beautiful images! And that pile of laundry is far more than just laundry, isn't it! A song gets us through many 'laundry piles' in our lives! Exquisite writing, Suzanne!!