Week 16 Journal

Journal entries Sounds

Friday: I love the sound of an old wooden lake-house screen door slam echoing across lazy hot air. Even in the dark cold of December in Maine the thought of it warms and brightens me. I think I’ll record it next year along with some sounds of kids splashing around and a distant motor boat and a fishing reel unwinding and the little waves lapping on the shore. Then come next December I’ll put it on the MP3 player and listen to it every morning and smile.

Saturday: The sound of the day was splashing water. Our son swam today in a meet with about 100 other kids and the parents’ all in an indoor pool. These pools are designed by architects to keep rodents out of the building with chaotic sounds bouncing off every tinny surface. Add to the splashing and cheering voices 80 degree heat and 95% humidity to make the contrast to the snow quietly falling outside in the gray cold. When the uproar inside seemed overwhelming I looked out the wall of sliding glass doors, shivered, and appreciated the warmth.

Sunday: Today brought more sounds of people sharing the same space. The sermon was about Malcolm Gladwell’s latest book which starts with a story about a Pennsylvania town where researchers concluded the lack of heart disese was attributable to their practice of community. After the usual singing together we stayed for a couple hours to make wreaths and cards and the like in the basement; another warm room buzzing contently. Later the echoing bounce-bounce and yelling across the courts at the rec center made accompianied another nice memory of playing ping-pong which has its own gentle rhythm section.

Monday: Today’s sounds start with muted footsteps on carpet outside my office and the hushed whoosh of air through duct ways above. Just above I can here collegues’ discussions. Forgotten are the blah-blah-blahs from the hour and a half of Monday staff meetings. Remaining are a few good ideas for action and so the keyboard tapping noises commence for the rest of the day.

Tuesday: Today found us back at the pool for practice. The pool and kid sounds are low enough to get lost in conversations between the attending parents. Most of the dads are separate watching the kids swim up and down the lanes or at least their eyes are on the pool maybe their thoughts are miles away. The women sit in little clusters, some knitting and gabbing away. Where I noticed a gender listening difference was after practice we all waited outside the open locker room doors. We were all talking about American cars and government bailouts when the women suddenly laughed all together about something. The dads looked at each other with raised eyebrows wondering what the funny was. Turns out only the women overheard something hilarious from the girls locker room, the men were oblivious. I would not have noticed this if not for journaling sounds this week.