When I first moved into my condo some 6 1/2 years ago a student gave me a wind chime to hang on my balcony. It was your basic wind chime. It had 4 metal bars that hung down with a square metal piece in the middle that would strike the bars and make a beautiful sound. It wasn't one of those huge obnoxious ones that you get sick of hearing. This one was simple and made a very pleasant sound with the slightest of breezes. I enjoyed it's sound. I looked forward to it when I would sit on my balcony enjoying a smoke.

One day last year we had some really strong winds. The thin strings that held two of the bars gave way and those two bars fell to the ground never to be heard from again. I was a little upset but I wasn't worried. The chime didn't sound the same but it still produced a beautiful sound with the two chimes left hanging. Then in the fall of this year we had another very strong windy day. Yet another metal bar fell to it's death. I was beginning to miss the multiple sound of the chime. One bar could still produce a nice sound but not in conjunction with the metal bar that played a slightly higher note. It was a singular sound now.

It finally happened. Yesterday during the freaky weather we were having the wild wind silenced the wind chime. The last bar could hold on no longer. It's string, weathered over the years, let go and the last chime was finally silenced. I no longer could hear the melodic tone of the wind chime. It was sad.

Spring is right around the corner. Spring is a time of re-birth. Maybe it's time to find a new wind chime to replace the one nature so brutally stole. I know I'll never be able to find one exactly like the one that played that beautiful sound I'd grown so fond of hearing. And so the search begins for it's replacement.