How can anyone make another hear the nice musical sounds of the realistic, common everyday things, like the cracklin’ of a wood fire, the spatterin’ of rain on a board roof, the sharp clangin’ of a dinner bell, or the soft tinklin’ of a cow bell?
Did you ever awake in the morning to the challenging crow of a rooster? As one crows to be answered by another and then another on and on until it fades away in the distance, only to be begun over and over again.
You can describe the beauty of the autumn trees, but how can you capture the sound of the rustling leaves, and the pattering of scurrying little feet, that tell you “Winter is coming”?
—Verna Mae Slone – “Common Folks”
I love the every day sounds I hear in my mountain holler. The creak of the floorboards in the hallway, the squeak of the wood stove door, the crank of a diesel truck down the road, cackling hens, crowing roosters, the murmur of voices, Chitter’s hammer beating out work in the basement.
While many of the sounds I mentioned serve as year round audio others come depending on the time of the year. The peep of spring frogs and the hum of summer katydids come to mind.
Many years ago Ed Ammons told me he preferred the sound of the videos we upload to the polished sound of the cds we make. He said he liked hearing the scrape of the chairs, the clearing of throats, and the tapping of feet keeping time with the music. He allowed those sounds made the music more real, more alive.
I think Ed and Verna Mae were onto something. There is great comfort in the sound of clinking dishes, footsteps that you recognize, and the noise of family gathering around the kitchen table to eat.
Last night’s video: My Appalachian Memoir 14.
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YES! The sounds of life lived out each day make a special and precious music of their own and I can think back over the years of all the daily life lived from childhood to when my children were home and growing, to my husband and I with the empty nest quietness, to now in living solo with abundant quietness – such sounds of family and daily life are greatly missed. We don’t recognize the treasure the ‘music’ these varied life sounds are until they are no more. Bless you Tipper, Matt, Paul, Granny, Katie, Corie & Austin for sharing the sounds of your lives with us all.,,,soon to have the added sweet sounds of tiny pattering feet.
The pre-dawn chorus of cardinals & robins awakening to a new day, the far-away sound of a train whistle, the near-silence of a sparkling nighttime snowfall, the joy of hearing an seldom heard favorite song from long-ago, a slowly rippling creek, the crunch of the snow or the leaves under your feet…sounds I love, some from nature, some from life. Without silence, you miss these things. Many don’t seem to allow themselves quiet time anymore.
The sounds of everyday life are very soothing to me, and I think the most soothing is the silence of the out of doors.
I’ve been going blind over the past few years. This post made me say a prayer of thanksgiving for the senses I still have. Those sounds mentioned are a blessing!!
This is my favorite Pressley Girls song! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTeDISYpq4s&t=29s
Tis a gift of happy faces, girlish smiles and a bit of silliness. Tis kinda sad they had to grow up.
Sounds I grew up with on the farm. The best was sitting on the porch swing in the summer, listening to night sounds in the country.@
So true.
While I have fond memories of the sounds of Nature, growing up in town attuned my ears to city sounds. As a pre-teen I could tell the difference between Ford, GM and Chrysler engines but Packards and others I didn’t hear often enough to learn. I remember sleeping on summer nights with the windows open in hopes of catching a cooling breeze and listening to sounds of trucks on US1 and trains being made up in the Seaboard yards and roundhouse about a mile away. And I could hear the crowds at Devereaux Meadow by the rail yards whenever something stirred them up, usually a good sign for the Raleigh Caps.
Always loved to hear a whippoorwill calling out at night..or the lonesome sound of a freight train in the middle of the night….last whippoorwill I heard was in Cedartown GA about 20 years ago.. ..one of the things I love about be
ing in Bryson City once a week is the sound of that whistle…especially the steam train…..have ridden it and hope to ride it again….
I love this post and all of the reminders it brought to my memory! Our everyday sounds are quieter now that our kids are grown and flown the nest having started families of their own. But the precious sounds of laughter, our grandkids playing with their cousins when we have our family gets together are so wonderful to hear. Thank you for this!!
I did enjoy Verna Mae’s writing from Common Folks. Tipper, I too, enjoy hearing the natural sounds around us in our every day life. I’m not outside a lot during winter like you and your family are now that I’m older, but in Spring, Summer and Fall I am. I love hearing God’s nature music. The rustling of leaves, crickets, birds, frogs, the few squirrels we have, neighbors dogs, chickens, roosters and the neighborhood cats that come around meowing for attention. I enjoy the sounds of our neighborhood, neighbors talking, laughing, children playing, music playing as cars are washed, lawn mowers, weed eaters, garden tillers and leaf blowers all remind me neighbors are doing well and taking care of their families and homes. All these sounds that some may think are annoying are sounds of life to me. God’s nature music made by all He has created is beautifully orchestrated at night and during the day. It’s in our silence we truly hear the presence of God and all He created.
I love everyday country sounds. But to my mind I either don’t have enough country sounds here or the ears to hear them. I may have tuned out too much, like aircraft and traffic, and lost some other better ones. We do have tree frogs, toads, crickets, katydids, bird song, squirrels, cows and every now and then a horse. And our neighbor’s dog barks at me cause he thinks this is his place to. Our road, however, is way too busy with too much loud music and loud mufflers.
I also love the everyday sounds. Whether indoors or out, living in the country or town, there are so many. In the country, I loved when the tractors started rumbling in the fields, dogs barking, birds singing, cows mooing, just too many to name them all. When I moved to town, although we still have the wonderful sounds of birds and other creatures, we had to get used to the sounds of trains, fire engines and unfortunately rescue squads and even helicopters on occasion flying over to transport someone to a larger hospital. One of the best sounds outside is hearing church bells chime. I get to thinking and there’s just too many to keep naming but thank you Tipper for the post because it really makes me feel so grateful just to be able to hear them!!! Also, I enjoyed last night’s reading. Sidney was a very talented writer and although she went through a lot, it didn’t stop her from becoming all that she was. Looking forward to what you pick out next!!
I remember when you first started this blog and only a few of us commented. Now I feel that I should let others comment and not take up space. I still start my day with a cup of coffee and your blog. Sometimes it is on the deck with all the smells and sounds of the season. I even put a jacket and gloves on and sit there just enjoying a crisp morning with the sounds and smells of winter. You could blindfold me and put me outside and I could tell you what season it is. You know how I feel about you and your family and how much I enjoy hearing what the girls are up to. Love to you all and I will continue to love
your blog. Especially the Sunday songs. Now I will shut-up and let others tell you how much they appreciate you and what you are doing.
“The music of everyday sounds” is indeed so gratifying. As you, I live in a small rural community and the sounds of life are many. And, I try to enjoy all they represent; and equally, have an appreciation for even the “sounds of silence” that we enjoy everyday. Thanks for the reminder not to be complacent and take for granted the many daily sounds and sights of my bit of rugged and beautiful rural surroundings, Tipper. So blessed!
As I sit here in bed reading, I’ve paused to just listen! The low rumble of the furnace blowing makes me feel warm. The ever so quiet creek of the glass on the coffee make is a very familiar sound, yet I had never noticed that before (and yes, we have a coffee station in our upstairs bedroom, bc we drink our coffee while we catch the morning news in bed.) The shift of the quilt, as my husband moves, makes its own sound that I would recognize anywhere. And the sound of a car door shutting outside, makes me aware that the window is open. How you’d distinguish that is surprising to me though. Yes, we always sleep with the window cracked we sleeping (unless the air conditioning is running.)
I live in a house built in 1923, 100 years old! I love my old house. It talks to me. Made of heart pine, there is still sap in the beams in the attic. Isn’t that amazing!
It does have a language all its own. Late at night when my husband sleeps so easily and I can’t seem to find sleep’s hiding place, I get up and sit by the fire ….and listen. As the winter night gets colder the old wood contracts and moans and pops…..kind of like my bones in this cold weather. There are certain floor boards that squeak, I could always hear if the children were up at night.
Last summer I was sitting on the porch watching the lightening bugs come out. We had just had a summer shower and the tree frogs were really singing. I thought, God is Amazing! Not only does he provide us with a ballet of dancing lightning bugs, he provides an orchestra of tree frogs to accompany them!
I love music that people make, but there is something about the natural sounds if we take the time to listen that touches my soul in a different way.
Keep making your music……both kinds.
Oh I loved that so much! It took me back to when I was a child, and I remember nights falling asleep to the sound of my Mother’s sewing machine, or the typewriter. My grandparents had a cabin in Montana, and I used to spend summers with them there. I loved waking up to the sound of my Grandpa stoking the fire in the wood stove, and the sound of the bacon frying. The creek that ran by the cabin was a constant flow of fountain sounds, and the birds singing. Thanks for taking me back there this morning, and God Bless Appalachia!
I didn’t enjoy walking my dog every morning and evening – I could be doing other more important things BUT a neighbor once gave a friendly wave and yelled ‘enjoy your walk’ as I passed. That stopped me quick. I realized that I was making myself grumble and miserable as I walked in the heat (Florida) and mosquitoes. I started noticing how happy my little dog was – smelling everything, looking closely at the tiny flowers bravely growing on the road side or how she stalked a big toad that hopped each time her nose got close. We live in a new sparsely built neighborhood that had been a forested patch of land near the Suwannee River for generations and the old, tall, shady trees along the road made it feel like I was on a mountainside path instead of flat Florida. Once I began acting like my dog and enjoying the walk as much as my dog did, I began loving the walk – it was up to me. I began using the time to pray. Then I started noticing God’s music – the birds opened the day with a beautiful praise song that quickly infected all the birds to sing along. Evening brought quiet thankful bird song for God providing everything they need and softly singing their young to sleep. A distant car might prick up our ears and the noise of squirrels chasing about the tree tops was a joy. The crickets and katy-dids were so LOUD and from a couple miles away, local school band practice echoed through the woods. What a wonderful world this is. All this peacefulness brought to me by my dog! I miss her walks but memories fill my heart and soul.
As I sit here reading your blog, the clock on the wall ticks out the exacting rhythm of seconds passing by. It’s easy to allow that tiny sound to go unnoticed. All of our senses, seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching are incredible gifts. This mornings post gently reminded me of the beauty of these simple but incredible things. You always share something worthwhile. That’s why I visit with you every morning.
If only my parent and grandparents allowed themselves to be recorded, taped or videoed – I would love to hear their voices and stories over again!
I sure do miss the sounds of being in their homes as a child hearing the grownup talk of times gone by.
I sure am glad that Granny has allowed herself to be taped for her family to treasure forever. And that your family has shared your lives with us.
Thank you so much Tipper.
I thought of the creaking floors and squeeky doors as low tech security. You can even tell who is making their way through the house by the nuance of their foot steps. I like trying to guess if the woodstove was heating up or getting cooler by the little sounds the water makes in the pan. Was it tic tic or cit cit?
Thanks for inciting the thoughts of such things.
Living in the country we are blessed to hear nature except the distant sound of a train which to me is comforting.
Tipper,
An all-around beautiful and memory invoking post.
Thank you.
By living all of my life in a rural area I have been able to hear many sounds and especially sounds that the wildlife make. How many have heard other birds fighting a crow? I remember back in my young childhood, grandmother ringing the bell to tell granddaddy dinner was ready. His mule would stop wherever she was at when the bell was rung, she knew it was break time. If the bell was rung at any other time it meant come quick, we need help. I now have the bell and the same heart cedar post it was mounted on in my back yard. I also love listening to a gentle rain on the roof, especially if it is a metal roof. One of the saddest sounds for me is a dove cooing in late evening just before dark. One of the sounds I now miss the most is hearing the calling or whistle of the bobwhite quail. My neighbor has donkeys that get pretty loud at times, but instead of getting mad, I laugh at them. Everyone owes it to themselves to sit out in the quiet county woods at daybreak and just listen to the sounds of the wildlife waking up or coming to life. I could go on and on, another sound I no longer hear is beagles or hounds running a rabbit or coon. The last time someone coon hunted on my place neighbors that are outsiders call the law and said the barking of the hounds was bothering them. One other sound I miss is is the sound of my neighbors 2 cylinder JD pulling a heavy load. Both he and the tractor have gone on to their rewards.
Your posts & videos are so soothing to me, even the funny ones with the girls making faces & teasing each other. I love them better than anything in the evenings. Thank you for making my alone time much better by sharing your family & it’s doing with us all. Many of the things you all do I was accustom to as a child. We had much time spent with our extended family, meals together & staying with our grandparents. Grandma had a nice garden & always taught us children about it. She taught us how to plant & pick things & enjoy the good food she produced for us all. She had bush beans & I still remember her telling us to walk in the rows & “help” her pick the beans. Then of course we all sat in the grass & strung & snapped them for Grandpa’s supper. These are such loving memories for me at 75 yrs. old Tipper & I thank you so much for them.
This article made me stop and be thankful for all the sounds of life I get to hear everyday, I am truly blessed. I am especially thankful that I can see and hear your videos each morning. I look forward to them everyday. Thank you ♡
During the winter, when I’m forced to nap inside, the sound I hear most is my granny wife banging on her pots and pans. Most suppers are from scratch but there are the inevitable do overs and once in a while a make do. Just like before times, once a month, she’ll have to galavant to the city for some staples or winter sass that we don’t grow or jar ourselves. She is gone from can see to can’t see and often returns at dark thirty. After that she is dead as four o’clock and I have to haul her pokes in from the buggy.
Worst for me are the sissly sod soaker days when I get the low down and my gumption is gone. Both seventy and we still grow most our own, with plenty of honey from her bees, fresh eggs every day, potatoes, squash, garlic and onions still in the cellar, venison in the freezer and her simples on the shelf.
Love your memories! Add to those my own remembrance of the mantel clock ticking in the kitchen,
radio sounds of “The Shadow” and other mysteries that made the ironing on Tuesday go faster, the creaking of the wooden rockers and aluminum rockers on the front porch, the snapping of green
beans on a summer afternoon, and children’s voices playing “Red Rover” and “Kick the Can.” Odors,
too, of a chicken’s pin feathers being singed, tar-soaked railroad ties burning our bare feet as we
walked to the ice plant for summer ice cream, the crack of a ripe watermelon on a hot summer
day!
I agree! I don’t know if you remember this, Tipper, but when Alex was little she was obsessed with The Presley Girls doing “Spotted Pony.” But she only wanted to listen to the version where “the girls laugh at the end.”
There’s something special about “love” music.
Ed-I do remember that! I always thought it was so sweet that Alex loved the laughter 🙂
And again, your words bring tearful memories – but with a big smile. I have never in all my years thought of these now precious sounds as music (and I was a music teacher for 50 yrs.)! Indeed. Hand-washing dishes. Beloved puppy claws on a tile floor. Red mated Cardinals calling to each other again and again. And the Katydids signaling that it’s time to start winding down another day. OH. MY. Thank you. Never again will I take these for granted.
you and Ed are right, it’s that hum of family I miss now that I live alone.
Wow, what an ending to an interesting book. It seems that she finally found contentment with her life and how it turned out. At my age I am contented with how mine has gone and is going. There are still things I want to do and am doing that is so rewarding. Having discovered your channel has brought about reflections and smiles and what lessons that I might not have reflected on and learned from. Sounds???… some are welcomed and some are not, as the phone ringing at 2 or 3 in the morning, usually bad news not good. However, I will continue to take it as it comes and know that what does come is God’s call.