Camp sounds

Rich's News From Camp WeBegone

In our everyday lives, there is sound all around us. The background noise of life. We don't even notice it.

Having now the luxury of time, I often contemplate the variety of sounds we experience here. Earlier today Jay and Cheryl heard a Nuthatch (which I missed). We sat for hours listening to the baby Dippers as they called out for the insects presented by their parent. 

Just sitting here now, a fly buzzes by, and there's a yellow jacket. Plus, high overhead the echoing noise of a helicopter heading out on its way to a fire. 

In the distance, a Raven awk awk awks. And I ponder the many sounds these birds have in their repertoire. - Did you know birds have two voice boxes? 

Now a plane - also probably on fire duty - rushes by. And later, as I quiet my mind, I notice the constant background rush of the Rogue as it flows through a narrow part of the river. A lively chatter, mixed with a whisper of wind in the tree tops.

And there are familiar sounds as well, like the clank of the bicycle as Cheryl goes on a short ride.

Oh, and ah yes! the sounds of meals being prepared. Familiar metallic sounds and the pouring of water. We have gravel roads here, and the crunch of tires and of feet across the gravel is a distinct sound - and one that Mimi usually hears before we do! 

And of course the Mimi sounds. Her mew is quiet, and the reward of a purr when we pick her up or pet her in the morning.

Hwy 62 is a half mile away, so we seldom hear highway noises here. But just now comes the screech of tires on the pavement, echoing all of the way here. Civilization mixed with nature.
Much as is the sounds the squirrels nipping pine cones that fall thump thump to the earth or that clang down on the car.

All of these sounds remind me of the diversity of this forest. Of the great range of sounds we hear here. Of how the trees sometimes crackle in the morning as the sun calls the water to come up to the top. Of the occasional crash of a falling tree - there is a distinct crack crack crack as the trunk breaks and the breaking of limbs and the rumble as it hits the ground. Of how sometimes, with weather changes, we get a stillness - mostly the lack of insect sounds. This stillness might be broken by a clap of thunder, and if lucky the rain fall on our tarps car and tents.

Life here is simple and mostly unhurried. Simplicity allows us these peaceful moment, where we can listen and appreciate this sound-filled life. The rhythm of morning chores. With the chopping of wood and the toting of water comes a zen feeling. 

The only thing that interferes with this feeling is the mind when it gets on with its habit of worry, fear, planning, and guilt - which, once we are aware of it, we can thank it for its input and go back to sitting or reading.

Fritz Perls said that as humans, we have two tasks: doing and being. Our culture supports and expects the doing, but it is not so receptive to the being. And, he concludes, this state of affairs creates human doings rather than human beings.

Be well today. Enjoy the sounds around you.

Rich