memorial day {and the anniversary of a birth}

some time soon after august came into the world, i heard music. not like choirs of angels singing, but actual music streaming on pandora radio.

the station was probably playing throughout the entire labor {"a chill ambiance" was part of my birth plan}, but i don’t remember hearing anything other than my own low rhythmic moaning until after august was born. once everything was still and i was holding my new baby though, music became apparent and the first song i remember hearing was the neighborhood's sweater weather.

it’s incredible how the senses are tied to memory. they're just basic triggers set off by a smell, a taste, or a sound, but they can conjure up the past in an instant. what is really amazing about the link between sense and memory is that while details of the past are vague, the recollection is inexplicably real. there is this feeling of nostalgia and emotion that takes your mind back to that place in time in a way that is indescribable.

a lot of my memories are connected to music. sam cooke, for example, brings me back to the summer before middle school, when my sisters and i had to whitewash the fence that perimetered our house. citizen cope, on the other hand, sparks emotions from the winter andy and i started dating, when we'd stay up talking late into the night while sitting on this ugly faux-fur covered futon he had. ryan adams vividly reminds me of when we lived colorado and regularly took weekend drives into estes park. and the neighborhood, well, the neighborhood will always be the day august was born.

when i think about that day, i almost forget about the labor and birth. instead, i think of a grey cashmere sweater. nay, i feel that sweater, cozy and warm on my skin {obviously some of the song's lyrics influenced my association with the day}. i think part of the reason sweater weather stands out in my memory is because of how the "mood" of the song fit the atmosphere of that moment. everything was soft and quiet in the first hours of august's life: the evening light that filtered through the bedroom window, the downy hair that covered his body, the cotton muslin swaddled around him, his tiny dinosaur noises, and the music that slowly streamed throughout the house.

memorial day is this coming monday - august was born on that date last year - so in honor of his birth and to help kick off your holiday weekend i've linked the song here for your listening pleasure.

have a great time celebrating the beginning of summer and i hope that wherever you are, it's warm enough that you won't be needing a sweater. ha!