Music…

Angel

Surfacing

Sarah McLachlan
and Words

Spend all your time waiting
For that second chance
For a break that would make it okay
There’s always one reason
To feel not good enough
And it’s hard at the end of the day
I need some distraction
Oh beautiful release

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.


Having attended Catholic school in Puerto Rico, we discussed religion in general and angels in particular.  However, I don’t believe that any of us has a real understanding of what it’s all like, not sufficient enough to truly describe it to someone else.  Those conversations in my youth were more superficial than descriptive.

Years later, I chatted with a friend about trying to describe something common without a frame of reference.  Imagine talking on the phone with someone and needing to distinguish between ‘left’ and ‘right’ without making another reference (like on which side of the street do people drive).  Similarly, how do you describe to a blind person what certain colors look like having never seen them?  I found that talking about religion was often like this.  We had directions to accept certain ideas as truisms, but most discussions were ultimately unfulfilling.

Continue reading “Celestial companion or narcotic?”

Music…

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico

La Pandilla
and Words

Esta tarde escuché una música
Y he sentido nostalgia pensando el lugar
Donde yo nací, Puerto Rico.
Qué será de mi tierra y mis árboles
Qué será de mi casa cubierta de sol
Mi querido sol, viejo amigo.

Lyric excerpts from Musixmatch.


The sun toasts the pavement on a Puerto Rico afternoon.  The heat and humidity turn the island into a sauna.  On a typical afternoon, my dad closes the doors to our restaurant for siesta.  A siesta is a tradition among Spanish folk where, they shut things down, often to take a nap.

Today, we’d pile into our blue Chevy Nova and go on a drive.  It’s the entire family: both my parents, my sisters, and I.  As the car builds up speed, I roll down the window and plant my face out the opening to enjoy the wind.  I must’ve looked like a dog with their head out the window.

Continue reading “My island beginnings”