Sounds of The City

I always enjoy the sounds insects make in the Summer and Fall.  There is an increase in the different sounds being made, the urgency of the sounds, and more individuals making them.  A lot of the noise seems to be a call.  It's as if all are saying, with whatever mechanism works best for them, "Here I am!...Come here!...Where are you?...We're getting closer!"  on a warm evening, the insistent repetition is comforting.  Insect's calling evokes memories of summers past.  The familiarity is wonderful.

And all of this noise keeps getting louder, longer, and more frantic as the weather cools.  That is, it gets more intense, until the first frost.  Then, suddenly, almost all of the sounds stop.  Only a few, quieter, cooler, subdued sounding insects continue the orchestration.  It is a sad time to hear the last remaining music makers trying to accomplish their purpose.  One can almost hear the beginning of a cold winter wind in the near silence.

While napping, on my screened porch the other evening, I was awakened by howling of coyotes.  At first I thought someone was fighting in a nearby home.  My mind was trying to interpret a seldom heard sound.  I tried to discern words of anger being shouted.  Then I realized what I was really hearing.  There was no mistaking the sorrowful wailing of the pack.  Perhaps they were morning the warmth gone.  Not having heard them very often, I was not familiar with what they were trying to communicate.  Was there a, "Come here." in their voices?  Or, were they just fussing among themselves?  Whatever the conversation, it was nice to be able to hear it.

There are sounds so subtle I cannot hear them.  The rabbit hopping about my yard, a skunk slowly turning over bits of sod, and the raccoons scurrying from the sewer grate to the neighbor's bushes are all those soft sounds.  I would listen if I could find the volume control.  As it is, seeing supplants the missed sounds.

Soon the wind will remove most of the leaves from the trees.  It is harder to listen to cold winds.  They seem to be foretelling weather that will come.  Knocking the leaves off of trees is forceful.  Strength in the wind will push snowflakes and rains in the near future.  I tend to ignore the wind sounds.