Today I spent a bit of time eating a salad while sitting at the base of the UM bell tower as someone played the carillon.  I couldn’t put my finger on what the piece of music was, but it was relaxing to sit in the sun and listen to it float down from the top of the tower.  I let the stress of an overloaded study weekend seep away from my neck and shoulders.

Mom got her music education degree from UM in the 50’s.  She had classes in the bell tower, so inevitably I thought about her as I listened and ate.  Seems strange that she might have sat right where I was sitting, listening to the bells as I was listening.  More likely she’d have been up there watching, wishing she were playing.

I finished my salad about the time that the concert ended.  The last wisps of music floated away, leaving only the sounds of dry leaves blowing along the sidewalk and the squeak of bus brakes out on the road.