Today has been the most challenging test to my "Joys of November" project.  It was a Monday.  It was a rainy day with strong winds, and I spent a significant amount of time riding my bicycle out in it (note:  I'm being careful not to complain here -- just state facts).  I found it harder to focus on the Joys of November... perhaps not so much because there are no more joys to speak of, but more because I'm starting feel the "barrel of ideas" drying up already -- just 10 days into the month.  A couple of times today, I caught myself worrying and wondering how I was ever going to make it to the end of the month.

But pausing to write this post has, fortunately, had just the effect for which I was hoping when I decided to participate in the NaBloPoMo with a goal towards focusing my attention on the the small, significant moments of joy in an otherwise dreary time of year.  In reflecting back over the last 24 hours or so, I've been able to think of not just one little joy to celebrate -- but several!

...like the e-mail exchange with my old friend Matt O. from Bowling Green, talking about the joys of our families and the "Joys of November" project -- in which Matt O., in typical Matt O. style challenges me directly (with a tone that seems confrontational but which is actually just his way of having fun):  "Are you still joyful today?  If not, get joyful right now!!"  Thanks, Matt O., for your reminder to joy which actually brought me a small dose of joy...

...like remembering the sound of the cajon.  Have you ever heard of this musical instrument (percussion)?  Or have you ever heard it played?  It's awesome!  It sounds kind of like a whole drum set without the cymbals -- toms, snares, and bass -- though it's just a small wooden box about the size of a trumpet case.  It really is an impressive instrument that I'd have to say has brought me joy in the last day since I heard it.  The great Marijn (who is truly a gifted percussionist) played the cajon yesterday afternoon at our church's worship gathering -- and I'm still bopping to the beat which has remained in my head ever since.  

...and like the cross-cultural humor unavoidable in songs like this simple Sint Maartens song which Elliot learned at his school today:

Sinte Maarten had een muis
die lag in het ziekenhuis.
Met zijn blote billen
daar lag hij te gillen

For those of you who don't speak Dutch, the translation for this song is as follows:

Saint Martin had a mouse
which laid in the hospital.
With his bare butt,
he just laid there screaming.

As far as I can tell, this song was intended to be a fun-and-merry children's song.  Funny, yes -- but apparently not at all "weird-and-creepy."  Again, it's just another one of those things which come along with cross-cultural existence.  The bizarre becomes the beautiful.  The mundane becomes the joyful... Just try to imagine that song sung to the beat of the cajon, and see if you can keep yourself from smiling...

And BAM!  I'm back to celebrating the Joys of November.