Less charming are the loud firecrackers. This morning they woke me at 6:00 a.m. Now I get fireworks, which are also very common here and are magnificent as they explode above the center of town. I imagined that the firecrackers where being set off at night by spirited pre-teen boys. But I have never heard of pre-teens getting up at 5:30 a.m.
I finally asked my hairdresser about them. He said that no - those were not kids setting off firecrackers but the churches. They are calls to god. I have to admit there have been a few times when I thought early in the morning, "Okay, already. God heard you."
Bells and firecrackers are such a part of everyday life here, I needed a way (since I am not Catholic and heading to mass), to make them useful in my life. A few weeks ago I decided whenever I hear the bells I will pay attention to my breath as long as they ring. I now get a mini meditation multiple times a day.
The firecrackers are so loud, that I found myself being irritated by them. I certainly do not want to be irritable several times a day. So I decided I would be grateful for something every time they explode. Surprisingly that has completely changed my relationship to the firecrackers.
I hope my Mom who taught me to meditate in 1971, and was the most grateful person I've ever known, is smiling in whatever heaven she is in.