Too bad this isn't an audio blog!

I was just thinking about my day and realized that the golden thread that ties everything together is the fact that each image is characterized in my thoughts by very distinct sounds.

• Like the sound B's head made when it hit the tiled floor as he flipped off of the couch in the living room.
• Or the frenetic tapping sound made by hailstones as they danced across our windshield.
• The wild, joyful shrieks of dozens of children enjoying their spring break at the indoor playground we hung out at this afternoon.
• The triumphant "HA!" that S made as he finished his fourth English-language reader this evening.
  
• And the giggles and thuds currently emanating from my "sleeping" children upstairs...
  

But I suppose the most lasting impression I have from the previous 24 hours is one of horror. Yesterday afternoon I went for my customary walk with D. As usual we tramped through the fields near our house and around a rather noxious "lake" where she can run without a leash. And then last night M and I saw a report on the news about the "nature reserve" from which I'd just returned.

The airport has apparently used that particular reservoir as a dumping ground for toxic waste for many years. Cancer rates within a 2km radius are exponentially high, and experts have advised people not to even touch the soil in the area due to high levels of cadmium and other heavy metals.

And as I watched the program I realized that I was slouched down on the couch with my feet up on the coffee table. peering out over my shoes. which were still covered in mud. from the hot zone behind my house...

How ironic-- here I am buying organic fruits and vegetables and even then peeling and washing them. Avoiding most meat and pre-packaged foods; Limiting any chemical products that we use around the house; And living within 1 km of a toxic waste dump.

Which leads me to the final sound for this posting: one long, bewildered sigh...