Sitting here with my morning coffee listening to a recording I made on my iPhone of the sounds around me while I had breakfast one morning almost two years ago- mostly an amazing recording of bird sounds and songs, the occasional chewing of toast (!) and some very quiet chimes in the background. I don't remember making this recording but I titled it "Bird Song Breakfast" and it is over 10 minutes long so it must have been quite deliberate. October of 2014- so it was just after I moved into this house. It must have been one of those fall days when there were a ton of birds out in my yard because all of a sudden the sound just fades away as if they suddenly all flew off!

My life is full of sound- of course yours is too. I just happen to be acutely aware of it, maybe a bit more so than many people. Sometimes when it is quiet and an unexpected sound cuts through the ambient noise I feel it in my body- my ears, my scalp and my skin have an instant response to it- much like the way an animals ears perk up when they hear something. It is an involuntary and fascinating reaction that I have only become aware of within the last 5-6 years, although I suspect it has always occurred. Does that happen for everyone I wonder?

I had a reading from someone a few years ago who had never met me prior to the reading via Skype and knew nothing about me or my profession. He said to me at one point, "You have very big ears." Actually physically my ears are pretty tiny (I was told by someone once that my ears were like little dimes!) so that was not what he was referring to. It was the way in which I hear, which he said is similar the way a cat listens/hears- they are aware of all the sounds around them. Actually voices are what I have the most trouble with in a way. I am so acutely aware of all the other sounds around me that it is often hard to stay focused when someone is talking to me.

Self Portrait??? I didn't realize it when I did it but of course it is... Me, loving sound.

It is such a beautiful day right now. Sitting at my wooden table, listening to these sounds which I have recorded, a hint of fall in the air since last night's rain cooled things down. Perfect clear day, not a cloud in the sky. The recording has just come to an end. Now I hear the steady drone of cicadas, the wind and rustling of leaves in the trees, the clicking of keys on my keyboard, the steady rhythmic chirping of one cricket, the glass chimes on my front porch and the light metallic tinkling of a different set of chimes, staccato sparse quiet chirping of birds- and a car coming into my driveway. Time to give a session to an old friend. Perfect day!