Ah…the benefits of having an open window or two is the ability to hear all the various sounds from the neighborhood. We live on a paved road that is the route for big and small trucks, vehicles of all makes and sizes, farm tractors, as well as motorcyclists. With each new day comes the roar and hum of those various engines as people begin a new day of work or other activities. Unknown to the passers by, each sound I hear brings an attached memory with it.

Right now, although there is a lot of noise coming through my open windows, one in particular is missing. I cannot hear any children playing outside. While I admit that our current neighbors don’t consist of many small children it’s still strange not to hear the laughter and arguments that make up child’s play. Are they inside playing instead? Are they on overnight trips? Whatever the reason I miss the noise that kids make.  My own two children are now young adults, each living in their respective residences and have taken their childhood memories with them. Their childhood friends are now grown as well; many have moved far away and have young families of their own now. As I drift back to those summers when all the kids were small I remember the long, warm week that I suffered through having the mumps. All I could do for the majority of each day was stand at the kitchen window and watch as my friends were outside playing. I remember begging my mother numerous times ‘why can’t I go outside too?” Seeing all the fun made it hard to endure the loneliness and healing time required for mumps to pass.

Also missing from the budding days of summer is the hum of the school bus engine as it makes it turn down our side road to pickup the kids. I always knew the approximate time of morning it was if I lingered under the covers–either 7 or 8 am–depending on the arrival of the bus for each route. The busses are parked for the summer, hopefully replaced with wheels on bikes and trikes for the kids to ride.

Above I can hear a piloted small plane doing maneuvers in the beautiful blue sky complete with small puffy white clouds. As I ponder the pilot’s flight plan I am able to recall with great fondness the number of times that an airplane carried me to a distant place to visit family and friends, or to discover the beauties of our world. We live near two small airports so the enjoyment of seeing small planes in route on their flight plans has become very common.

Down the road someone is mowing their lawn. The buzz of the lawnmower tells me it’s a fairly good size yard–they’ve been at work for awhile now. My dad didn’t own a power mower for a long time. He had a push mower, the kind that the blades rotated and cut the blades of grass. He was the ‘power’ and as years called for, my two older brothers assumed the ‘power’. We lived on a corner city lot so our yard was a bit larger than the average lawn in our block. Dad is gone now. That old push mower of dad’s is now home with me and rests in the backyard flower bed, free of its duties and purpose.

True to their nature the birds are in constant song and communication. I find it amazing that I can hear their distinct voices above the drone of the cars passing by the house…and the person still mowing! As I hung laundry on the line to dry, I was privy to hear a couple of crows raise their voices at ‘something’ that disturbed them and I thought to myself….I wonder if my raised voice towards my children years ago wafted through the air to the ears of neighbors….

Next door the neighbor’s dog does a good job of announcing that ‘someone’ or ‘something’ has wandered into his territory. Most of the time he enjoys his large fenced yard but doesn’t hesitate with warning barks when he deems appropriate. His nature to do so causes me to miss our own dog Russ who lived to be 14 years old, had his own fenced yard to run,  play and protect until age called him to be laid to rest. I miss his ‘barks’ when someone pulled into our driveway. Now I have to relay on sight and the sound of tires on gravel to know that someone has arrived to our home.

Yes, my open window offers many advantages to a cool summer morning, afternoon, and evening. As the sun rises to usher in a brand, new day my open window is the entrance to a cacophony of noises that come either in solo or chorus style, all that serve to create a continued atmosphere of joy and contentment, or allow me to travel back to a treasured place in time where I can camp out for but a brief moment and relish the memory. When the sun sets and nightfall overshadows the sun’s previous light, my window will allow me to hear the various bugs and insects that fill the air, fly and bump into the screens or glass. I will await the chorus of the frogs to begin and serenade me to sleep, all in the comfort of a gentle breeze and occasional passing of an early morning commuter on the breaking of a new day.