We read out loud a lot. Car trips, Sunday afternoons, almost every night. It's where a lot of our inside jokes and shared history comes from. It's a calm, connecting time. This week we finished reading An Elephant in the Garden by Michael Morpurgo (the same author as War Horse).
The Girl loved that an elephant -- with twitching ears, wise eyes, and an ability to communicate contentedness via throat rumblings -- was valued as highly as any other member of the family.
The Boy loved that it was set during WWII. That Spitfires, Lancasters, compasses, and historical references were peppered throughout.
I appreciated that by writing about the bombing of Dresden, specifically -- and calling war out to stand naked with just its socks on, in general -- the book was a preparatory text for Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five (which I recently reread for the 50th time in order to facilitate a book club discussion). While Vonnegut's book won't be required reading around here for a few more years, I like to think a foundation has been started. Never too early to start prepping for Kurt.
Today we went to listen to the Gotham Jazzmen, and as I sat there amongst the insulin pumps and help-I've-fallen-and-can't-get-up bracelets I felt well and safe. I love the music, I love the friends that attend (jazz knowers who nod appreciatively when certain songs are announced), and I love that my kids are being reminded about what makes a person relevant. And I realized that that's another reason why I liked Morpurgo's book: the structure is an elderly woman telling her story to a nine-year old boy. That theme of valuable exchanges happening between the young and the old resonates strongly with me.
Here is a nice little companion article for the book -- the very news story that Morpurgo heard (a zookeeper having an elephant in her backyard during the war) that inspired the idea for the book. Hearing about these magic seeds makes life seem so exciting -- like at any moment we might see or hear something that with proper care can grow into something else wonderful.
Also, Marlene Dietrich is mentioned in the book (in fact, the elephant is named Marlene after her) -- here is a clip of her singing with stills of her during WWII.
(Our generation might have slobbier clothes, less-talented musicians, and a lack of depth from not having lived through a world war, but dagnabbit we have the internet!)
