calmThis morning I heard the birds as usual and also the sound of two women talking. I couldn't make out the words, just the conversation sound, rather a lot like birds. People aren't out on the street talking much in my neighborhood - it's a mobile home park, not on the way to anywhere. People on the street tend to live here, and I usually only hear other people when they are in the pool across the street. The pool sounds are not always wonders to my ears, as these other sounds are. There is a lot of screaming. So much screaming that it makes my head ache.
A better sound is that of a party in the clubhouse, overflowing outside, people laughing and talking. Recently I heard one of these and the overall sound was ...I hate to use the word but it fits ...joyous. I thought, what a nice group of people.
This morning I went to the vending machine on our floor at work, and overheard spirited discussion about what someone said about someone else. There were people flowing in and out, adding and subtracting from the conversation. All this behind the public counter. Someone watching might think, "public servants, of course. Lazy, not doing any work." That would be wrong but it's easy to get that impression. I feel that being able to talk freely with others as I go about my work makes my time here not only bearable but pleasant, and that I do better work because of it. The ebb and flow of the voices is like music to me.
Similarly, I still remember the sound of the people on the sidewalks in Spanish Harlem in New York City in 1998 as I rolled past on my bicycle. Energetic, loud, wonderful. REally music. I am sure it has been done but I think these sounds could be combined to make one hell of a recording. I'd buy it.
