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Sunday, April 20, 2008

Shhhh!

We live in a fairly rural area, but I’m having trouble readjusting to the vernal noise around here. Yesterday, we raised the storms and dropped the screens on the bedroom windows. It’s been unseasonably warm, with temperatures up in the 70s (21+ C) and even cresting over the 80 degree (27 C) mark. As a result, we’re hearing spring peepers, birds in full seasonal song, cars driving too fast on our country road and diesel tractor engines chugging from one field to another. I don’t have any desire to swap this raucous collection for city noises, including beeping horns and unattended car alarms. But this year’s accelerated transition from snow-muffled, winter silence to spring lollapalooza feels a bit jarring.

Today, we added our own sounds to the mix: scrape of metal shovel and rake against sand, dirt, gravel and rocks. Over the years, the crown down the middle of our unpaved driveway has risen in direct proportion to the settling and lowering of the parallel tire tracks on either side of it. So, we dug up one pile of dirt and spread it around into two flatter piles - sort of. It’s a work in progress, which could will come to a grinding halt at the first swarm of biting black flies. At which point I will move inside behind screened windows and/or a screened porch until the first hard frost next October! O.K. That’s a slight exaggeration. I’ll only stay indoors through the black fly, deer fly, tick and mosquito season. Yeah, well, that’s pretty much first hard frost in October...

3 comments:

purpleronnie said...

Oh how I would love those noises in place of cars screaming down the road in the middle of the night, house alarms going off and ambulances sirens going to the hospital nearby. Come on, Stevie start saving for a country home!

barbie2be said...

due to ongoing back pains, the most i have done in the yard thus far is yesterday when i pulled out all the california poppies by the roots. i hate those things. they are prolific like a weed and they stink.

Ms Brown Mouse said...

We have a combo - the distant rumble of the city-west link, the low flying planes AND birdsong, wind in trees and possom lovesongs. I could do without the planes!