This is what I say to others whenever I get the opportunity to do so and why? Here in a very large city such as Toronto, there are many sounds for us to experience and appreciate but on the other hand there are many that we often miss out on.
How could this be? I am going to speak personally for myself and here goes.
I live in a high rise condo and yes! I often hear the sound of cars racing along the road, trucks and buses rumbling along, hors blaring, and passers by talking to each other. This often occurs if I really strain my ears to hear what’s going on many floors below me in the street.
However, there are other types of sounds that I have grown to love and appreciate and I am just one of the more fortunate ones who has had those cherished and priceless opportunities to hear much more than what exists in the world of a large city living in a high rise condo.
Having spent the first few years of my life in a small city in a small country, I have always managed to carefully preserve the sounds that mean so much to me. The sound of raindrops falling either lightly or heavily onto galvanized roofs. The sounds of laughing kids chasing each other in the park. The sound of cars making swishing sounds as they travel along wet streets.
Then there were the sounds of rolling waves coming ashore. The noises of gentle breezes whistling through tall trees and those singing birds waking me up each morning with their assortment of songs, melodies, and scales from A to Z.
I can still remember as a child listening for the mournful sounds of the ships in the harbour on a clear night and enjoying the voices of party goers walking homeward from dance halls and night clubs. Yes! These are the sounds that I never take for granted and the ones that have stayed with me from earliest memories.
Living in a high rise condo I do not have the luxury to hear these but each time I visit my home town and stay for a while, these are the sounds that all come back to me and I never tire of enjoying them.
So as I will say once more; don’t take those sounds for granted! You never know when the day may come that you may not have the opportunity to hear them again. For if for some reason I am no longer able to visit my home town; then these memories will need to be even more carefully preserved.