"All the sounds of the earth are like music, all the sounds of the earth are like music.
The breeze is so busy it don't miss a tree,
And an ol' weepin' willow is laughin' at me!"
The aforementioned quote is, of course, from the musical "Oklahoma" by Rodgers and Hammerstein. I have sometimes listened to the song, "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" as I drive past farm meadows and marvel at the "bright golden haze" that hovers on the horizon, illuminated by the rays of the rising sun. (Sometimes I also sing!)
In our back yard is "an ol' weepin' willow." My wife, Jenny, planted it when we moved into our home seventeen years ago. It was just little then and we didn't even know if it would survive. It did---and now it is a magnificent tree, standing sentinel behind our house, bearing silent witness to the wonderful years we've spent here.
As it's branches sway gracefully in the Tennessee breeze, it reminds us that the winds of time continue to blow, almost imperceptibly. You hardly notice the the passing days and months and years, until events startle you into reality. Jennifer and I are experiencing such an event.
As I write this, she and I are preparing to escort our daughter, Danyel Misha, to college. it seems only moments ago that we moved her, as a one year old, from Tarzana, California, to Brentwood, Tennessee. We have loved our sojourn here and she has grown up to be a marvelous young woman, of whom we are very proud. She has spent much of her summer bidding farewell to family friends, schoolmates, and all the folks who have contributed so much to helping her become the person she is today.
But now, her tomorrows have beckoned---and she is off, leaving the comfortable shelter of our home for the exciting, yet unknown promise of her own unique life experience. She is ready---and, I suppose we are too. (We'll find out soon enough!)
Prayers for her---and for us---would be appreciated.
Jenny and I are a bit undone---but our "ol' weepin' willow" seems unfazed. It continues it's quiet laughter as we contemplate a potential season of weeping in the midst of our pleasure in seeing Misha embrace her new adventure with her usual steadiness, maturity and tenacity.
When we return from our trip, Jenny and I will be in this house together---alone---for the first time ever. Perhaps, more often than not, we'll "sit alone and talk and watch a hawk makin' lazy circles in the sky."
Well, thanks for listening. I guess I'll just close with another chorus:
"Oh, what a beautiful mornin', Oh, what a beautiful day,
I got a weepy-eyed feelin',
Our daughter's goin' away...Hey!...
(That's why we ask you to pray!!)
---with apologies to Rodgers and Hammerstein---
Shalom y'all,
Marty (We're doin' fine, Oklahoma) Goetz
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