Monday, September 6, 2010

Sounds

Rio is full of sounds...
there are always cars driving by, horns honking....
there are waves crashing, toucans and parrots chirping.....
there are people laughing, shouting, singing....

It is amazing how different it is when you do not hear the familiar sounds, whatever they are.
At our house in Florida, though it is on the water, you do not hear it....there are not many waves.
There is the breeze rustling through the palm trees and the birds chirping, but mostly there is silence.
We are all different in our comfort levels of sound.

I enjoy the silence though sometimes it unsettles me a little. After these last 7 years of constant sounds, it seems strange to me when I do not hear the cars or the people. I like it quieter. It helps me to settle down and calm my thoughts. I like to hear just the sounds of nature. I like the relaxation it provides naturally.

Yet, as we are getting ready to move onto another country where I'm not sure what to expect, I wonder what sounds will become familiar. I will miss the large ocean waves slamming against the sand that I go to sleep to every night and wake to every morning.
I will miss seeing and hearing the toucans and parrots at my children's school.

Yet, I know that what awaits me will be the beauty and silence of snow.
I always enjoy watching the snow fall and the beauty of the silence. I know silence is not seen, but somehow, when I watch snow, I feel like you can see the quietness of the air....feel the silence surrounding you.

What sounds surround you?

4 comments:

BLOGitse said...

Snow...if you have a lot of it there's no echo, more quiet.
It also makes environment brighter in the winter when the moon shines...
You can hear your steps when walking in the snow if minus degrees...

My sounds are: our neighbors on top of us, screaming, man walking like an elephant, heavy walking, kids playing with their toys on marble floor, they push (not lift) their furniture more than often...more? :)
But only 206 days left! I will survive! :)

Brenda said...

Just this morning I was thinking about the unusual sounds I hear in San Francisco, mostly as they relate to conversation overheard. Just today I heard someone talking about fasting for ramadan, another about her years living in Mexico, an Australian wished us Americans Happy Labor Day, and on and on it goes. So different from other places I have lived.

FancyHorse said...

I hear traffic sounds, too, but no horns blowing. Just the motors of cars, trucks, and motorcycles zooming by, with an occasional beat from a radio with loud speakers, and sometimes a siren from an ambulance, state trooper or sheriff, and rarely (thank goodness!) a fire engine.

Our birds are mockingbirds, geese, crows, and sometimes flocks of starlings.

mythopolis said...

This has been fun to think about...paying attention to the 'lesser' senses. We seem so visual most of the time. But, I can still recall the smell of my grandmother's apartment in Manhattan as a child. The taste of a dreamsicle from the ice cream truck cruising the neighborhood. My mother's fingers running through my hair, telling me I was a good boy. Right now, there are tree frogs mating. And crickets chirping. Every now and then a car rolls by, and it sounds like a lazy surf. Rising and falling.

Good luck in this new venture. You will enjoy those snows, you are a Steeler!