MY NEIGHBOR SINGS

I have never seen him up close. My roof top overlooks his courtyard and once I caught a glimpse of him getting on his 4 wheeler. He looked like a middle age, slightly overweight man.
Each day the music begins. It can be 10 AM or 2PM of 8 at night. It is full blast and only a brick wall separates our Mexican houses. Both our yards are open to the sky. The sound is as if he is standing right in my yard yet he is unseen.
The music is operatic, poetic, and lovely, all in the romantic sound of Spanish. There is nothing quite as lovely as a man singing in Spanish unless it is a man singing in Italian or French. As the music swells he begins to sing louder and louder. He sings as if no one in the world can hear him and the fact is that I am sure everyone in a 3 block area can hear him It never lasts more than an hour or so and I am always a little sad when the silence sets in again. His voice is pleasant and I think how different this is . In the United States, it would be considered rude to blast your music and voice beyond the confines of your designated space. It is socially unacceptable to expose your neighbors to your passionate singing.It is sweet and common here in Mexico , the land of the Mariachi Men.

Life here is very real and vibrant especially when it comes to music.
How many times I have sung at the top of my lungs. Yes, I do admit it. But these unabashed moments were always in my car with the windows rolled up as I pass other silent drivers with moving mouths. The singing man next door reminds me of how good it feels to sing without shame. He enriches my day.





 I wonder if he ever glimpses his neighbor dancing in the full moon's light just above his courtyard as if no one is watching her.