Little Harmonies

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Speaker 1 Welcome to bedtime stories for everyone

Speaker 1 in which

Speaker 1 nothing much happens.

Speaker 1 You feel good.

Speaker 1 And then you fall asleep.

Speaker 1 I'm Catherine Nikolai.

Speaker 1 I create everything you hear on Nothing Much Happens

Speaker 1 with Audio Engineering by Bob Witterchime.

Speaker 1 We give to a different charity each week.

Speaker 1 And this week we are giving to the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank.

Speaker 1 They are mobilizing resources to fight hunger. and feed their community.

Speaker 1 You can learn more about them in our show notes.

Speaker 1 If you haven't taken a listen to our daytime show

Speaker 1 called Stories from the Village of Nothing Much,

Speaker 1 I want to extend to you a special invitation.

Speaker 1 We just released a new kind of episode,

Speaker 1 a walking tour app.

Speaker 1 where I walk you through the village museum and out onto the grounds.

Speaker 1 You could listen while you're out on your own walk or at any time.

Speaker 1 It is a fun, soothing show.

Speaker 1 And if you're a premium subscriber, you can get that ad-free as well. We've got links to everything in our notes.

Speaker 1 Now,

Speaker 1 since every episode is someone's first.

Speaker 1 Let me say something about how this works.

Speaker 1 When your mind is gently engaged, sleep is more accessible.

Speaker 1 You know this if you've ever been unable to keep your eyes open

Speaker 1 when reading in bed at night. But then

Speaker 1 what happens?

Speaker 1 You click off the light,

Speaker 1 slip down into your sheets, and suddenly you're wide awake again.

Speaker 1 It's because that gentle engagement went away.

Speaker 1 So just by listening, we will keep that element in place.

Speaker 1 And before you know it, you'll be waking up tomorrow, feeling rested and relaxed.

Speaker 1 I'll tell our bedtime story twice, and I'll go a little slower. the second time through.

Speaker 1 Our story tonight is called Little Harmonies.

Speaker 1 And it's a story about small bits of ordinary magic that happen every day.

Speaker 1 It's also about

Speaker 1 new specials at the coffee shop, tulip bulbs and a dog met at the mailbox, notes jotted down in a journal, and the feeling that you've tuned into a special frequency that you might have missed before.

Speaker 1 Okay,

Speaker 1 time to turn off the lights.

Speaker 1 Set down devices and get as comfortable as you can.

Speaker 1 Let it sink in that you are in bed and about to fall asleep.

Speaker 1 Maybe this is a moment you've been waiting for all day,

Speaker 1 and now it's here.

Speaker 1 Take a slow, deep breath in through your nose

Speaker 1 and sigh.

Speaker 1 Again, fill it up

Speaker 1 and let it out with sound.

Speaker 1 Good.

Speaker 1 Little harmonies

Speaker 1 I'd been noting them down

Speaker 1 in my journal lately.

Speaker 1 Any time I noticed a little echo in my day

Speaker 1 Some small moment when something was mirrored

Speaker 1 a thought I'd had

Speaker 1 appearing in the real world.

Speaker 1 A word I'd just learned, uttered by a stranger at the next table in a cafe.

Speaker 1 A song stuck in my head before bed, playing when I started up the car.

Speaker 1 Those

Speaker 1 little harmonies

Speaker 1 feel like magic to me,

Speaker 1 like catching a glimpse of the internal wiring of the universe.

Speaker 1 And a friend had suggested that I start writing them down.

Speaker 1 She said she did.

Speaker 1 And it helped keep a feeling of awe

Speaker 1 and amazement fresh in her mind.

Speaker 1 That sounded good to me, so when they popped up,

Speaker 1 I took my journal from my bag and just made a note.

Speaker 1 Just now I'd seen one

Speaker 1 and flipped through my little log book to write:

Speaker 1 February 3rd, cookbook

Speaker 1 slash new coffee special.

Speaker 1 Just the night before,

Speaker 1 I'd been flipping through a cookbook I'd had for years.

Speaker 1 I'd started by looking for a soup recipe to make for dinner,

Speaker 1 but ended up in the dessert section.

Speaker 1 A frequent happening for me.

Speaker 1 When I saw a recipe

Speaker 1 for miso caramel.

Speaker 1 Hm,

Speaker 1 I thought,

Speaker 1 what would that be like?

Speaker 1 A little salty,

Speaker 1 like a salted caramel,

Speaker 1 but with the extra umami of the miso?

Speaker 1 I'd been intrigued, but

Speaker 1 not interested enough

Speaker 1 to actually attempt the recipe.

Speaker 1 In the end, I'd gone with a basic split-piece soup for supper,

Speaker 1 and forgotten about the sweet miso idea.

Speaker 1 Then to day,

Speaker 1 standing in line at the coffee shop,

Speaker 1 just as the person in front of me paid and stepped aside,

Speaker 1 one of the baristas

Speaker 1 started sketching out

Speaker 1 their new weekly specials on the chalkboard beside the register.

Speaker 1 And second from the top

Speaker 1 was a miso caramel latte.

Speaker 1 Whoa, Whoa.

Speaker 1 I'd ordered it immediately

Speaker 1 and stepped aside to write it into my book.

Speaker 1 A minute later,

Speaker 1 just as I was reflecting

Speaker 1 on what the odds of this coincidence might be,

Speaker 1 I heard my name called from the counter

Speaker 1 and went to retrieve my drink.

Speaker 1 The ceramic cup was warm in my hands,

Speaker 1 and the barista had made a pretty plump snowman in the faux mart on top.

Speaker 1 I walked carefully back to my table,

Speaker 1 trying my best not to jostle him.

Speaker 1 I sat

Speaker 1 and took a slow sip.

Speaker 1 It was

Speaker 1 really

Speaker 1 delicious.

Speaker 1 I can't say that I would have been able to identify the flavor as miso.

Speaker 1 But what I loved about it

Speaker 1 was that the sweetness sat on top of this

Speaker 1 balanced richness.

Speaker 1 It wasn't just sugar that sometimes left me feeling a bit sick when I got too much.

Speaker 1 It tasted

Speaker 1 just a bit sweet,

Speaker 1 a bit salty, and a bit earthy.

Speaker 1 I caught the eye of the barista

Speaker 1 and gave them a little applause.

Speaker 1 They made a small bow and got back to tamping and steaming.

Speaker 1 I looked back down at my notebook,

Speaker 1 reminding myself of the other recent harmonies I'd noticed.

Speaker 1 February first

Speaker 1 tulip bulb slash dog's name

Speaker 1 That one made me smile.

Speaker 1 I'd been going through my garage,

Speaker 1 looking for the right-sized Allen wrench to tighten up my bookcase

Speaker 1 when I'd been sidetracked by a box of tulip bulbs I'd meant to plant last fall.

Speaker 1 I'd taken a few packets of bulbs from the box and was reading the names of the varieties.

Speaker 1 Acropolis,

Speaker 1 Floridale,

Speaker 1 Purple Prince,

Speaker 1 and so on.

Speaker 1 Then, just a few hours later, I'd been at the mailbox,

Speaker 1 fishing out circulars and envelopes,

Speaker 1 when a dog and her person came walking by,

Speaker 1 the dog had pretty cream-colored fur

Speaker 1 and came over to sniff my shoes.

Speaker 1 When I'd asked if I could say hello,

Speaker 1 and her person had smilingly nodded,

Speaker 1 he'd added that her name was Floridale.

Speaker 1 I'd laughed in surprise as I petted her.

Speaker 1 What a pretty word

Speaker 1 to hear for the first time

Speaker 1 and then twice in one day.

Speaker 1 January 29

Speaker 1 Light bulbs slash bathroom vanity.

Speaker 1 Oh, that one was interesting too.

Speaker 1 I'd been in the grocery store when it was busy

Speaker 1 and pulled my cart into a little corner by the birthday candles to double-check my list.

Speaker 1 Just as I was attempting to merge back into traffic,

Speaker 1 I'd bumped a shelf and a box of light bulbs wobbled down into my cart.

Speaker 1 I'd reached for it to return it to its place,

Speaker 1 then had a faint memory

Speaker 1 of looking for new bulbs a while back,

Speaker 1 coming up with a single dusty one in the back of my linen closet.

Speaker 1 So back into the cart they went.

Speaker 1 The very next morning I'd been rubbing bleary eyes in front of the mirror

Speaker 1 when I'd reached for the light switch and heard a pop.

Speaker 1 The bulb had blown.

Speaker 1 Well, well, well, I'd said as I caught up my toothbrush in the low light.

Speaker 1 Looks like I'm one step ahead.

Speaker 1 I didn't know if these harmonies

Speaker 1 had always been floating around in my orbit,

Speaker 1 and I had just

Speaker 1 not been paying close enough attention to spot them,

Speaker 1 or if this was a new occurrence.

Speaker 1 I didn't even know what the right word for them was.

Speaker 1 I picked harmonies because

Speaker 1 that was how they felt.

Speaker 1 Like a single note,

Speaker 1 played a key apart. apart.

Speaker 1 And truthfully, I didn't care.

Speaker 1 I had my secrets and let the universe keep hers.

Speaker 1 I just liked witnessing them.

Speaker 1 They brought a sparkle back to my eyes,

Speaker 1 made dull days

Speaker 1 shine with specialness

Speaker 1 And it led me back to my journal, a side effect I was very happy for.

Speaker 1 I wrote of the vibrating guitar strings

Speaker 1 that were plucked around me in the world

Speaker 1 and dreamt of all the possibilities for more ordinary magic day to day.

Speaker 1 little harmonies

Speaker 1 I'd been noting them down

Speaker 1 in my journal lately

Speaker 1 Any time I noticed a little echo

Speaker 1 in my day

Speaker 1 Some small moment

Speaker 1 when

Speaker 1 something was mirrored.

Speaker 1 A thought I'd had

Speaker 1 appearing in the real world.

Speaker 1 A word I'd just learned

Speaker 1 uttered

Speaker 1 by a stranger

Speaker 1 at the next table

Speaker 1 in a cafe,

Speaker 1 A song

Speaker 1 stuck in my head

Speaker 1 before bed,

Speaker 1 playing

Speaker 1 when I started up the car.

Speaker 1 Those little harmonies

Speaker 1 feel like magic to me,

Speaker 1 like catching a glimpse

Speaker 1 of the internal wiring

Speaker 1 of the universe.

Speaker 1 And a friend had suggested

Speaker 1 that I start writing them down.

Speaker 1 She said she did,

Speaker 1 and it helped keep a feeling of awe and amazement

Speaker 1 fresh in her mind.

Speaker 1 that sounded good to me

Speaker 1 so when they popped up

Speaker 1 I took my journal from my bag

Speaker 1 and just

Speaker 1 made a note

Speaker 1 just now

Speaker 1 I'd seen one

Speaker 1 and flipped through my little log book

Speaker 1 to write

Speaker 1 February 3rd

Speaker 1 Cookbook slash

Speaker 1 new coffee special

Speaker 1 just the night before

Speaker 1 I'd been flipping through a cookbook I'd had for years

Speaker 1 I'd started by

Speaker 1 looking for a soup recipe

Speaker 1 to make for dinner,

Speaker 1 but ended up in the dessert section.

Speaker 1 A frequent happening for me

Speaker 1 when I saw a recipe

Speaker 1 for Miso Caramel.

Speaker 1 Hm,

Speaker 1 I thought

Speaker 1 what would that

Speaker 1 be like

Speaker 1 a little

Speaker 1 salty

Speaker 1 like a salted caramel

Speaker 1 but with the extra umami of the miso.

Speaker 1 I'd been intrigued,

Speaker 1 but not interested enough to actually attempt the recipe.

Speaker 1 In the end,

Speaker 1 I'd gone with a basic split pea soup for supper

Speaker 1 and forgotten about the sweet miso idea.

Speaker 1 Then today,

Speaker 1 standing in line

Speaker 1 at the coffee shop,

Speaker 1 just as the person in front of me paid and stepped aside,

Speaker 1 one of the baristas

Speaker 1 started sketching out their new weekly specials

Speaker 1 on the chalkboard beside the register.

Speaker 1 And second from the top

Speaker 1 was a miso

Speaker 1 caramel latte.

Speaker 1 Whoa.

Speaker 1 I'd ordered it immediately

Speaker 1 and stepped aside to write it into my book.

Speaker 1 A minute later,

Speaker 1 just as I was reflecting

Speaker 1 on what the odds of this coincidence might be,

Speaker 1 I heard my name

Speaker 1 called from the counter

Speaker 1 and went to retrieve my drink.

Speaker 1 The ceramic cup

Speaker 1 was warm in my hands,

Speaker 1 and the barista had made a pretty plump snowman

Speaker 1 in the foam art on top.

Speaker 1 I walked carefully back to my table,

Speaker 1 trying my best not to jostle him.

Speaker 1 I sat

Speaker 1 and took a slow sip.

Speaker 1 It was

Speaker 1 really delicious.

Speaker 1 Huh.

Speaker 1 I can't say

Speaker 1 that I would have been able

Speaker 1 to identify the flavor as miso.

Speaker 1 But what I loved about it

Speaker 1 was that the sweetness sat on top

Speaker 1 of this balanced richness.

Speaker 1 It wasn't just sugar

Speaker 1 that sometimes left me feeling a bit sick

Speaker 1 when I got too much.

Speaker 1 It tasted just a bit sweet,

Speaker 1 a bit salty,

Speaker 1 and a bit earthy.

Speaker 1 I caught the eye of the barista

Speaker 1 and gave them a little applause.

Speaker 1 They made a small bow

Speaker 1 and got back to tamping and steaming.

Speaker 1 I looked back down at my notebook,

Speaker 1 reminding myself

Speaker 1 of the other recent harmonies I'd noticed.

Speaker 1 February 1st,

Speaker 1 tulip bulb slash dog's name.

Speaker 1 That one made me smile.

Speaker 1 I'd been

Speaker 1 going through my garage

Speaker 1 looking for the right sized Allen wrench

Speaker 1 to tighten up my bookcase

Speaker 1 when I'd been sidetracked

Speaker 1 by a box of tulip bulbs

Speaker 1 I'd meant to plant last fall.

Speaker 1 I'd taken a few packets of bulbs from the box

Speaker 1 and read the names of the varieties

Speaker 1 Acropolis,

Speaker 1 Floradale,

Speaker 1 Purple Prince,

Speaker 1 and so on.

Speaker 1 Then,

Speaker 1 just a few hours later, I'd been at the mailbox,

Speaker 1 fishing out circulars and envelopes,

Speaker 1 when a dog and her person

Speaker 1 came walking by

Speaker 1 The dog had pretty cream-coloured fur

Speaker 1 And came over to sniff my shoes

Speaker 1 When I'd asked if I could say hello

Speaker 1 And her person

Speaker 1 had smilingly nodded

Speaker 1 He'd added

Speaker 1 that her name was Flora Dale.

Speaker 1 I'd laughed in surprise as I petted her.

Speaker 1 What a pretty word

Speaker 1 to hear for the first time

Speaker 1 and then twice in one day.

Speaker 1 January twenty-ninth

Speaker 1 Light bulbs

Speaker 1 slash bathroom vanity.

Speaker 1 Oh, that one was interesting too.

Speaker 1 I'd been in the grocery store

Speaker 1 when it was busy and pulled my cart

Speaker 1 into a little corner by the birthday candles

Speaker 1 to double check my list.

Speaker 1 Just as I was attempting to merge back into traffic,

Speaker 1 I'd bumped a shelf

Speaker 1 and a box of light bulbs

Speaker 1 wobbled down into my cart.

Speaker 1 I'd reached for it

Speaker 1 to return it to its place,

Speaker 1 Then had a faint memory

Speaker 1 of looking for new bulbs a while back

Speaker 1 and coming up with a single dusty one

Speaker 1 in the back of my linen closet.

Speaker 1 So back into the cart they went.

Speaker 1 The very next morning

Speaker 1 I'd been rubbing bleary eyes in front of the mirror

Speaker 1 when I'd reached for the light bulb and heard a pop.

Speaker 1 The bulb had blown.

Speaker 1 Well, well, well,

Speaker 1 I'd said

Speaker 1 as I caught up my toothbrush in the low light.

Speaker 1 Looks like I'm one step ahead.

Speaker 1 I didn't know

Speaker 1 if these harmonies

Speaker 1 had always been floating around

Speaker 1 in my orbit

Speaker 1 and I

Speaker 1 just hadn't been paying close enough attention

Speaker 1 to spot them

Speaker 1 or if this was a new occurrence.

Speaker 1 I didn't even know

Speaker 1 what the right word for them was.

Speaker 1 I picked harmonies

Speaker 1 because that was how they felt.

Speaker 1 Like a single note

Speaker 1 played a key apart.

Speaker 1 And truthfully,

Speaker 1 I didn't care.

Speaker 1 I had my secrets

Speaker 1 and let the universe keep hers.

Speaker 1 I just like

Speaker 1 witnessing them.

Speaker 1 They brought a sparkle

Speaker 1 back to my eyes,

Speaker 1 made dull days

Speaker 1 shine with specialness,

Speaker 1 and

Speaker 1 it led me

Speaker 1 back to my journal,

Speaker 1 a side effect I was happy for.

Speaker 1 I wrote

Speaker 1 of the vibrating guitar strings

Speaker 1 that were plucked around me in the world

Speaker 1 and dreamt

Speaker 1 of all the possibilities

Speaker 1 for more

Speaker 1 ordinary magic

Speaker 1 day

Speaker 1 to day

Speaker 1 sweet dreams