night sounds on st.viateur.
i love night sounds. crickets, frogs, toads and night birds, especially. cicadas are cool, too. and the nice thing is that around my place here in montreal, i have 3 different species of crickets that keep the rhythm going nights. two perch out front, and seem not to mind at all that a whole other animal is chipping up a storm less than 5 feet away; and, the third one is out back. i couldn’t imagine nighttime without crickets. it’s like running water for me … there must be positive ions associated, or something. or maybe a universal language of song, or some such nonsense.
frogs and toads; c’mon! there are so many i won’t even go into it here. although, there aren’t any in my neighbourhood. when my partner was working out on an organic farm last summer, however, i would drive out there frequently, and upon emerging from the timeless vacuum of my nighttime (rented) car, i would always be struck by out loud eastern nights are! … and how beautifully warm and welcoming. a veritable chorus of biodiversity.
night birds in montreal are primarily the common nighthawks, which is fine by me since this bird has long been one of my favourites (see pic above). they belong to the bird family known as goatsuckers, because hundreds of years ago it was believed they suckled on the teats of goats due to the incredibly large mouths they have! ah, sheesh. the good ol’ days …
the east is different than the west, btw … in terms of night sounds, i am speaking specifically here. i come from the west where the pine and spruce forests sit wonderfully silent most of the night, except for excitable owls and the odd insect here and there. well, there is always a period of coyote cackling and wolf howling, but you know what i mean … there are sounds in the west, but nothing symphonic like there is out east … there is beauty in each.
another favourite summer night sound for me, here in my little neighbourhood tucked lovingly into this fine town, is the ‘night time conversation’. this conversation wafts into my window at all hours of night, from couples or groups of people doing all sorts of things, i guess. coming back from shows, going from one house to another, walking and talking aimlessly … falling in love, maybe!
i actually don’t know what these people are doing, to be honest. i often wonder. i think, ‘how can it be that these people are still up, and that they sound so awake?!’ … but it really pleases me that they are there. it pleases me to know that other people are living different lives than me, with different concepts of what day and night mean. this pleases me like 3 crickets please me, chirping me softly into a sense of deep, comfortable slumber. maybe because it reminds me that my concept of how i organize my day isn’t the only one; which means i could potentially change, should i choose …
i’m tired, btw … but just wanted to say hi! just wanted to let it be known that montreal is beautiful, and the summer feels like it is really just coming into its own. it seems like summer has finally reached its zenith; that it has just now achieved its essence. so funny that soon (in about a month) it will be closing in on autumn! alright alright; i won’t start with that. but, sometimes it just amazes me how short summer is, and how i always seem to remember it for its shortest, but most brilliant peak of existence!
but, tonight i feel content, and happy to be sitting here … listening lazily to night sounds on st.viateur. tomorrow, we will make some fair-trade, eco-clothes, how-about …
c.
ps - thanks kristinl356 for the nighthawk pic and shadow mason for the night pic!
