Listen Listen
Walking home from school drop off yesterday I decided to listen to the city. Here's what I heard. At first it was just traffic noise . It's amazing how much noise is produced even by a barely-two-lanes one-way street, and it wasn't even terribly busy. Luckily I was walking by a park, so once I focused and cut through the traffic noise, I heard the water running in the fountain . It was actually pretty loud, but I seem to tune it out and not even notice it. Then I heard birds in the trees, more and more as I tried to ignore the traffic noise. The end of my sidewalk was blocked off by a crew trimming the tall trees. Sound of saws . A distant siren. Then I started hearing people . Many were talking on the phone. A deep sigh right next to me. Someone coughing at the bus stop. Another sigh and some getting-up-from-the-bench groans . A bus . I turned to a pedestrian street. Deliveries in full swing. Sounds of delivery carts rolling on bumpy street tiles. More people talking...