Shokufeh is... home

Sounds of my childhood

As I was sitting here, feeling like I should write something, but wondering which of the thoughts swirling about in my head would rise enough to the surface, the sound of toads interrupted. Or rose to the surface. Perhaps they're doing a happy dance, to celebrate the rain of the past couple of days. It won't undo the drought conditions of the past months, but it's a start. I suspect that tomorrow, we will find strings of toad eggs in the ponds. I love the sound of the toads. I don't know if it's just because it's a sound I associate with my childhood, but if it is, I'm okay with that.

Other sounds it's been nice to come home to include those of the trains and the ships. Both are sounds I associate with lying in bed. I don't know if it's because that's when rail and river traffic are at their busiest, or because that's when it's quiet enough to hear them. Until I was 16, we lived about a half mile from the river, so it was normal to hear the deep bellow of a ship's horn, or the higher pitch of a train running along the base of the river's levee. Since moving back here, I've noticed that I still hear these sounds. The train I hear is one running through town. The sound of the ship's horn carries from two miles away. I love its richness.

I'm now noticing all of these sounds are basically sounds of the night, or early morning. I'll have to play closer attention to figure out the daytime sounds of my life here, past and present.

Posted by Shokufeh at July 3, 2006 10:48 PM