The Sounds of Silence

I listened to a fascinating segment on NPR yesterday that talked about the sounds
of our world.
They talked about how sound can be divided into three groups.


Geophony...which is the sounds of the earth...wind in trees, babbling brooks, thunder, etc.
Biophony... the sound of nature....birds, insects, animals, etc.
and Anthrophony... the sounds produced by humans...music, voices, machinery, etc.


We live in a sea of sound...so much so that many of us don't know what quiet is.
So many of us live in a world over taken by anthrophony,
that we rarely hear the other two.


I thank my lucky stars on a daily basis that I have the luxury of pure quietude.
Most days I can walk outside and hear nothing but the sounds of nature,
the sounds of the earth and its creatures.


It is the constant hum of crickets and cicadas, the buzzing of bees,
the chatter of squirrels, and the song of birds that provides the background music to each day.


My nightly symphony is that of the breeze blowing through leaves,
 and the chirping of crickets, 
with an occasional chorus of owls, foxes, and coyotes.


When I leave the farm and travel to the city, I am aware of the over-stimulation
that human noise produces.
But when I come home to the country...
I feel my heart rate slow, my breath become deep and relaxed, my blood pressure lower.


I worry that our children may never know the peace and quiet that the land has to offer...
if humankind keeps striving to develop every square inch of this earth.
We call this progress?


We have lost so many of earth's beautiful songs already...
with the loss of each species through extinction, the song becomes less melodic.
Will we some day live in a world of only manmade sounds?


To me, nothing could be more tragic.

Comments

Lynne said…
Beautifully inspired, thoughtful post . . .
Anonymous said…
So true, love living in the country....marsha@tubbslanefarm.com
Anonymous said…
For many years I hosted exchange students during the summer from Kobe, Japan. The thing I'm still in shock over is they would stand outside at night and just stare at the stars. Where they live there is so many man made lights that they can't see the stars. How sad to grow up in beautiful world and not see stars. June
Cindy said…
I totally agree with you! Thanks for this and so many lovely posts!
This N That said…
I prefer Biophony..Wonderful pictures..
Laura said…
I agree completely. I live just outside of town and so don't have as much human noise as I used to, but there is still the air conditioners and cars of the neighbors. I always said if I had lots of money I would go around buying up plots of land to keep them from being built up or torn down for parking. I still hope to do that some day.
blessings
~*~
nuri said…
Your thinking, your words, underlined by your beautiful photography...
Thank you.
Candice said…
What a thoughtfully written post and, of course, your stunning photography.