Now Hear This

The early morning found me doing yard work. Never a favorite chore of mine, I have grown to enjoy it a bit more in recent years. Some of the enjoyment I get comes from shutting out the world around me via my IEM's. In case you are unfamiliar with the term, IEM stands for In Ear Monitors. A pair of headphones that has been custom molded to fit in/on ears. If you aren't bored already by the concept, here is a video that explains a bit further.

I've used a pair of these monitors for a number of years. In the past few weeks, my old pair took it's last breath and gave out. I am expecting my new pair to arrive in a few days.

Getting back to this morning....Aiden was helping me with the lawn, the pond, and a few other things that needed attention. Most any parent knows how this scene plays out. Your child wants to help and tags along at every turn. You, the parent, are glad to have them along no matter how much the many questions may slow your progress. 

We moved from one task to the next. Having finished the mowing and trimming, we grabbed a few brooms and swept up the clippings. At one point, I stopped to address a particularly stubborn group of weeds. Aiden put down his broom and wandered closer. These weeds were of the mutant variety, They had taken root where our driveway joins what passes for a lawn in the front of our house. As I wrenched out the last few green shoots, they gave way with a bit of a pop or even a crunch sound. Before I had regained my balance from winning out against the green menace, Aiden remarked "Dad that sounded like when I eat corn."

At first, I didn't really know what he had said. Then, once I put it together, I was equally quick to dismiss the remark as something that may have been cute, but didn't make much sense.

After a few good minutes, it hit me. He was absolutely, positively correct.

I've spent most of my life in the study of all things audio. So much so that I have earphones custom designed to fit around the second bend of my ear canal. Meanwhile, had I been wearing them this morning, I would have missed out on this amazing experience with my son.

Aiden and I at FOH, fathers day 

Kris and I have speculated before that Aiden shows some signs of hearing things the way I do. To hear him articulate something he had heard, and taken notice of, and remembered, like he did this morning was an amazing thing to witness.

My new IEMs. They will be here on Wed.

After a visit to an Audiologist, an embarrassing amount of money, custom lettering designed my me, and a 30 day wait.......Gramps pointed out they look like hams.