Boom Sham-a-lam-ah!

The youngest of my cubs delights me to no end. Spending time in his presence is truly an exercise in non-stop hilarity. The things that make him laugh are nothing more than the common elements of our everyday existence. Through his eyes I am learning to laugh at just about anything, to laugh at just about everything…and it is just about time that I have learned to just laugh about the sound of laughter.

Laughter keeps the heart young and there is nothing quite like feeling the heartbeat of your child nestled in your arms. Heart to heart, beat to beat, breath to breath; teach me something baby, teach me something new.

Late at night when we have performed our daily ritual of floating beyond new horizons in a hot, fun-to-be-young bubble bath…the drumming begins.

Bam-bam has nothing on my Boom Sham-a-lam-ah! With a spoon and a pan or a rock and a can, the rhythms flow pure and loud and wild and free.

So, lately I’ve been winding him down to dream town with the sound of drums in the background. Shamanic drumming beats looped back-to-back with psychedelic multi-colored patterns dancing on the screen as he and I drift to the place between awake and sleep.

I confess I am a bit too old and cynical and faithless to let the shamanic drumming carry me off to the otherworld. But with my child in my arms I hold on tight, ready to journey beyond this world as his eager and steadfast companion!

Endnote: The other night his mother my wife checked on us as we sat in my armchair drifting off into our nightly trance. She said she could not find us. We were there, only we were temporarily invisible to the naked eye!