An Argument for Whisting (or 'A Wrinkle in Whistles')

To My Youngers,

You'll be happy to hear that I am currently [finally] reading A Wrinkle in Time. And though I do like many sci-fi books and many British (or in this case British-style) children's books, the reason I am [finally] reading this one is solely based on the fact that both of you love it so. I'm not quite finished yet, but it didn't take me long to [finally] realize why you've each read it so many times and treasured it so much!

In big and obvious ways the novel is about the constant struggle between light and dark, the importance of family, and complex notions of time travel (which I easily understand thanks to many years of watching Quantum Leap), but it is also quietly about very small and normal things...

Last night, lying in bed, snuggled under my covers and reading by candlelight (for which there was no 'real' reason other than making me feel old fashioned) one particular line jumped out at me:

Charles Wallace, she was quite sure, was not trying to be rude or funny; it was his way of whistling in the dark.

Now I may have only noticed the reference to whisteling because of our choice for the title of this blog, but I think that the theme of the whistleing reference is also strikingly similar. In both this line and our epomymus High Fidelity quote whistling is put forth as a way to hold onto the wonderment of life. Charles Wallace whistles in the face of overwhelming darkness, a way to sweetly but firmly stand up to impending doom. In a much less melodramatic, though equally important way, Rob puts forth "something left to whistle" as a symbol of something we leave behind, something intangible yet important.

I have always loved whistling, particularly for the feeling it gives (sad, angry, or melancholia whistling is virtually impossible)! We whistle when we're happy, we whistle when we're nervous, we whistle to cheer ourselves up, we whistle to cheer up others. By its very nature whistling reminds us of the intangible, it's magic born of of the sound that air makes.

Whistling transforms songs, making them seem innocent and magical. Whistling outside of songs reminds us that life is innocence and magic.
And who doesn't need reminding of that?

-E

To continue with this emerging theme of whistleing I thought I would share some Whisteling Wonderment in the form of a youtube video playlist - though I can't take credit for assmebling the list (unfortunately I don't remember who did) or for finding it (Thanks Estela!!!) it's still pretty friggin' magical...