Awake From Sleep and Dreaming

My Grandmother used to sing "Awake from sleep and dreaming the cuckoo calls today. Beyond the mountain's gleaming appears the mornings' rays. Awaken from sleep and dreaming! Appears now, the mornings' rays!"
Her voice was lilting and I could see that she enjoyed singing it. Soon, as in most things she did, I wanted to join in. That was when she taught me to sing in what she called "a round". The proper name for it is still a mystery to me but it is when one person begins a song and a few notes later the next person begins and even a third can join in. They finish in the same way and it is so beautiful with the right voices and song.
The energy of that experience is a mirror of the energy of life. When I see someone enjoy what they are doing, I want to join in. It is the peace of it that attracts me. There is no invitation, no proselytizing, no command and certainly no refusal when I ask to join. I get to learn not only the "song" and feel it in my own spirit but sometimes something special is added like learning to sing in "a round". Sharing the thing of joy with others, yet still owning my own voice has power in it. And though it has been many years since I sang in "a round" with my Grandmother, I still remember the words. I can still sing the song. I can still hear her voice just a few notes ahead of mine.
My Grandmother transitioned from this world to another just three weeks before her 100th birthday in 1987. She sang like birds flit from limb to limb on a tree, so light and easy. She did not have a ready smile nor were her emotions an open book. Those things did not enter my awareness at all. Often people don't smile like a cheshire cat nor do their emotions register on their face like a billboard. But everyone has something that releases their joy. They might even share it with you if you ask them.
"Appears now the mornings' rays!"