Laughing with Di – Jan 2021

Lately, it’s been awful quiet. Sitting indoors, not many conversations taking place. Not many sounds – unless you are really listening.
Let’s have a chuckle…
While wrapping presents in December, I was curling ribbon. You know the kind that’s ribbed and when you pass it along the sharp edge of scissors it makes a distinct sound – very sci-fi; less like a light saber, more like a phaser.
Then there’s the unmistakable whoosh, short-sweet-confident, when a golf ball is hit off the tee. Or, opening a pop-top can of soda or juice – especially if it has been shaken, and you get the carbonation-eruption-spill-over fizz.
The sound of my Mustang’s acceleration when the stoplight turns green (grin).
The lowest note a saxophone can make. Or, the high, very long note a solo violin achieves that gives me goosebumps every time I listen to the Mannheim Steamroller’s Christmas version of Silent Night.
Sounds of railroad train wheels clickety-clacking on the track from a distance in the still of the night and fading away.
My grandson’s hearty laugh. When you pick up a bicycle wheel and spin it, you hear the unique sound of the air-through-the-spokes; a soft, repetitive whirring that’s very calming. Stand near a hummingbird feeder and if lucky one will appear. You hear the exquisite vibration of its wings as it flies around which cannot be duplicated.
And, while you won’t hear these sounds during your average day, let’s include a lion’s roar, R2D2 and, of course, the language of Minions. But, my favorite of all, are the soft whistle notes, escalating in volume, followed by the rhythm of fingers snapping in the opening scene of the movie, West Side Story. Watch it and you’ll know what I mean, “when you’re a Jet, you’re a Jet all the way….”
It sounds like we may have a better year ahead!