I Was Thinking . . . Did You Hear That?

That line has been used in scary movies forever. It is usually accompanied by dramatic music and means something bad is about to happen. The line is almost always delivered by a girl or woman. It can also be uttered by your wife just as you are almost asleep. “I heard a noise downstairs.” This means two things; one, women can hear much better than men. Secondly, husbands are expected to go down and see what it was. Apparently, equality of the sexes does not apply to strange noises at night. But you never know when you will hear a new sound, or a sound will bring back a memory from the past.

The last time I used my lawn mower, I heeded the advice of my wife and daughters and wore some ear protection to protect the little hearing I still have. The earmuffs I had been given do a pretty good job of deadening outside noise. So, I was puzzled when I put them on and heard a slight buzzing sound in one ear. I paused and listened, and there was definitely a faint fluttering sound. I took them off to inspect them and a small moth went flying away. Apparently, he had gotten into the earmuff. So, as I mowed, I kept thinking of unique sounds.

Some sounds are familiar and recognizable. The city warning sirens or the siren of a police car or fire truck are well known. But the memory of some sounds may depend on your age, background, or location.

The fog horns of San Francisco or the horns on the lift bridge in Duluth are very regional. While everyone in Kasson is used to the 5:30 p.m. siren, anybody from out-of-town wonders what that is all about. You also have to be a certain age to have the memory of fingernails on a blackboard. Today’s younger generation probably wouldn’t even recognize the old fashion “ring” of a telephone. We didn’t have ring tone choices back then.

If you are from a rural community, you know the “putt, putt, putt” sound that is unique to a John Deere. You have to be pretty old to remember the steam whistle from a steam engine from the thrashing crew. But most kids in Kasson know how to give the signal to get a semi driver to blow his air horns from years of watching the semi parade during the Big Iron Classic.

Most people can identify a “moo” as the sound a cow makes. While they may seem all the same to a city kid, anyone who grew up on the farm knows there are different kinds. One means, no one had fed us yet. If a bunch of cows are crowded by the door of the barn and the farmer is late for milking, it is an impatient sound, much like the sound someone makes when they are on the outside of the bathroom door and “really” has to go. There is also a very moanful “moo” a cow makes when the farmer decides to wean her calf from her. To some city folks, all cattle are cows. However, the bellowing of an aroused bull is nothing like any sound a cow makes.

While some sounds are loud, others you only hear if it is quiet. 

My daughter was about to go to sleep in her bedroom when she heard the faint scratching from the attic. It was the sound of mice feet on the sheetrock in the ceiling above her bed. I think she slept on the couch until we trapped the little noise makers. 

When sitting on our patio under the hummingbird feeder, I could hear the high-speed flutter of wings above me as a bird made a visit. Another thing that will get you out of bed in a hurry is the sound, somewhere in your house, of your cat throwing up.  And despite my best efforts, my mother could always hear the squeak of the back door when I’d come in late.

Did You Ever Wonder? - If a cyclops were to close its eye, is it winking or blinking?