I have this odd sense of anticipation and I think it has something to do with the weather.

Cause you know, summer is generally hot and winter is generally cold, but then there are these lovely wild card seasons we like to call spring and fall. And it’s then that you might wake up to grey clouds piled high–one on top of the other–while the sun is buried somewhere, probably in the middle. And there’s a chill in the air as you step outside, making you think it’s a good thing you’ve worn your A Chorus Line sweatshirt for what is now the fifth day in a row. But who’s to say that by lunchtime, when you’re eating your PB&J and all the third graders are jealous of the fruit snacks you’ll have later, the sun isn’t shining with a fervency you’ve only seen matched by your mom when she asked you to please not go and throw the baby out with the bath water, so to speak, and start living life like marriage and love don’t matter at all?

And with the sun shining like it is, you’re grateful that you’re wearing your grey tank top for what is only the second day in a row. And now you’re doubly grateful, cause you’ve still got a good couple of days left in it before it visits the laundry basket.

But all this to say that I wake up everyday wondering what kind of weather will show up. And it’s kind of exciting. And it’s kind of like listening to the radio.

Huh?

Well, see, the radio isn’t your Ipod (yeah, I realize you know that). But I mean, when you play your ipod, you’re in complete control over what you hear. Even when it’s on shuffle. Because it’s still pulling from a pool (pulling from a pool. ha.) of music that you’ve already selected and put there to begin with. It’s like throwing your own pet fish into a pond before you fish them out and put them right back into your bucket again. And yep, I just called you a bucket. But you’re a very nice, good-looking bucket, don’t worry.

And though there’s a lot of safety in having that kind of control, and yes, you completely eliminate the chance of hearing Nick Lachey’s latest comeback song again, you also miss out on something that just might be awesome.

Like the time I was driving to the Media Theater so I could be in Miss Saigon for about five whole minutes and was blown away because Christina Aguilera started singing Hurt on the radio. And the world stopped for a second. Even the fact that I was about to have to wear the world’s ugliest wig didn’t matter so much anymore. Because that song surprised me and filled the moment and made me pause in such a way that I had not anticipated, and suddenly I was better for it. And just think, I hadn’t even known it existed before I turned on the radio. And it couldn’t have happened with my Ipod, you know.

And it’s kind of like life. I mean, I had my ipod all set to play the kind of music I was expecting to hear once I came home from A Chorus Line. But then, I don’t know, my ipod broke, or maybe I broke, but something happened that effectively turned on the radio in my life.

And since then I have been surprised and surprised over the songs that have played. And I have fallen in love with some of them, I think. While I have really hated some, too. But still, it’s exciting; it’s the radio.

And I can guarantee you that Christina has definitely been singing some kind of beautiful version of Hurt. And I can hardly believe that it’s March and I am liking some of the songs that I can hear on this radio that I never did plan on listening to at all.