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Nature Writing

Music Without An IPod~

Music in nature, concerts with the fairies, the nutcracker in my yard

I walked outside to a world powdered over with white, white snow, and a pale blue cloudless sky.

 The day was bight and quiet or so I thought. I didn’t slip or slide when I reached the path, which was no longer muddy, but covered in a thin layer of white.  The mud underneath was frozen it gave slightly as I walked; foot prints from yesterday were set in place. The beige grass waved in a greeting.

 Uriah kept whining at my side until I reached in my pocket and gave him one of his biscuits. Then he heard a sound and took off in the trees.

I walked quickly around the path, alone; my thoughts of a warm cup of coffee waiting for me in the kitchen stopped me from enjoying this moment.

I dragged my feet around trees and under the bushes.  I hurried past the dip in the ground, used as a runoff from flood waters; today it was empty, except for dried foliage strewn around.   Rocks and dirt spilled out of the muskrats burrows, frozen and covered in snow. 

I stepped into a pile of snow covered leaves. Sounds changed at that point. I heard the squeak of packed snow as I walked and the crisp sound of the leaves hidden under that snow.

 I stopped took off my knit hat and looked up into the sky, and listened.

A breeze, soft, and easy drifted around my legs and into the tall grass. Then it rustled along the ground, picking up speed, until the air moved in a sweeping fashion, and shifted upwards.  

My eyes were drawn to the tops of four trees; they still had a few dried leaves clinging to the top most branches. They glistened with ice and rustled, the sound rose, then drifted to silence as the wind moved on across the fields.

I closed my eyes and waited.  Listening patiently for…?

 I heard the wind moving towards me in a billowing roll. It was if the Maestro had walked up to the podium, raised both hands for silence towards the Orchestra.

 Everything stopped! Not a sound! Not a bird!  Not a bit of grass moved. Until his hand moved in the downward beat and the Orchestra started playing.  

Winds rolled over the fields. Sound amplified and increased in pitch. It was if the wind was given instruction to play, and enticed the birds to join in. They fluttered in the trees, waiting their turn. I imagined fairies and gnomes dancing on that wind.  

Trees limbs slipped against each other making sweet, higher pitch sounds of a flute. The sounds whispered, and then stopped.  After a few seconds, a melody was taken up by a small bird. His solo ended and the wind gently rustled the dry grass, applauding.   

I heard the heavy muffled roll, as a new gust of wind traveled above my head bringing everyone into play.

 Then silence…   I whispered to the wind, “Bravo.” 

I heard Uriah fussing about in the trees, I called for him.   “Uriah, you’re that one person in the audience that won’t be quiet”

He ran out at me, and promptly sat at my feet.

“To late the concert is over.” 

I headed back to the house, no longer in a hurry…

Picture from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Vzevolozhsky%27s_costume_sketch_for_Nutcracker.jpg

15 replies on “Music Without An IPod~”

It’s so rare that we turn down the sounds from our electronic devices — as well as the thoughts in our own head — to enjoy nature’s serenade. A beautiful moment to capture!

There was snow on the mountain tops this past Tuesday. When I went Thursday to take some pictures it had all melted. sigh. But it was quite beautiful seeing only snow on the mountain but not on the land below.

No chance for wno this week, temperatures are going to be +60F and it is raning today. Mind you, in Madrid it more like a mist than a rain (although, last weekend it poured. I was shocked) – you get coated with wetness, but not soaked.

Awe lovely, great descriptive piece, loved the title, half the people who come here probably never heard of an ipod, simply because they prefer music as everyone should hear it, naturally, best part was when your dog ran into the woods when he heard a sound lol, reminds me of my wee one the least noise she is off…

I have placed a link to this garden of beauty on my links page….

loved it xx

Hey, I recently started reading this blog – thank you for the good work. I wanted to inform you that it’s not showing up correctly on the BlackBerry Browser (I have a Storm). Anyway, I’m now on your RSS feed on my home PC, so thank you!

Hello, I replied about twelve months ago explaining that I was not able to see your postings correctly. I don’t know if you altered your website but I can now read it the right way, thank you. I’m using a Black Berry Pearl.

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