Do You Hear What I Hear?

Of course you don’t. But I wish you did, because on yesterday’s walk we heard something unexpected and delightful. I’ll get to that in a minute. But first, here are a few other things we heard: a busy woodpecker; a pair of pint-sized guard dogs who couldn’t have weighed over three pounds together but gave it their all when we passed by their house; here and there, Tryon Creek, rushing down the hill through backyards and next to the street; friendly greetings from other walkers and from bicyclists gliding down a steep hill, and a surprisingly perky hello from a gentleman of a certain age who was steadily peddling up it; two different leaf blowers (not every sound is golden); our own voices; more towhees than we could count; an unseen young child in a front yard; some song sparrows; a second hello from a bicyclist who passed us again going the other direction; the rustling and clucking of contented chickens in a side yard coop; the sound of our feet moving through the undergrowth when we walked through a small grove of trees; and — amazingly — bagpipes!


I know that they’re not for everyone. Carl tells me he “like[s] that one bagpipe song," (his high school alma mater, actually; Go, Highlanders!), “and can tolerate the rest for awhile.” But I happen to love the sound of well played pipes, and I almost never hear them other than at parades or the summer Highland Games. So it was a delightful surprise to hear someone playing the bagpipes in his backyard right up the street from our house. We listened until the fellow took a break, then I shouted my thanks and "well done!" over the fence as clapping erupted from nearby. My mood hadn’t been bad before, but it bounced right up after the unexpected midday concert.

One thing we can do in this trying time is keep our ears open. It’s often easy for us to just tune out sounds, especially familiar ones. But they can help us stay grounded in the present, bring us soothing and connection, and occasionally bring a delightful surprise. Bagpipes are hard to miss, but some uplifting sounds are more subtle. Perhaps you’ll want to pay more attention to the sounds around you today. And if you’d like to watch a bagpipe story that’s both delightful and uplifting, here’s a great video about a local Portland hero: The Unipiper!

Until tomorrow, stay healthy, take good care, and enjoy the gifts of sound.

Love,
Nancie/Mom/Mimi/Grandma

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