Outside Voices

I was sitting on my back deck not too long ago enjoying the summer weather when voices from next door strolled across my yard.  They were greetings from a contractor, a husband saying goodbye to his wife and instructions to the kids before going in the pool.

Have you ever noticed that outside voices are different than inside voices? It must be something about the echo or vibration as it passes through the air and distance. Outside voices take on a magical quality and transport me back in time.

Hearing outside voices immediately take me back to childhood summers. Times of listening to radio broadcasts of baseball games while working in the yard and hearing Mom yell across the neighborhood to call the kids to dinner.

Most of the time you don't even see the people whose voices you hear.  Yesterday I was sitting on a deck overlooking a beautiful river scene when the outside voices passed by. They were of laughter, splashing and paddling. Voices enjoying a summer kayaking excursion. I didn't know the people but the sounds brought back my many happy days of kayaking on the river in the sun.

If you need some inspiration for writing down your own childhood memories, sit down outside and wait for the voices to drift by. The familiar voices of the present will soon have you thinking back to the voices of your Mom, Dad, aunts, uncles and grandparents.  The re-awakened sound of their voices in your head will return you to your early years and the memories will start pouring in.  But don't just listen to them. Enjoy them and write them down.