All remains constant... it seems

I am sitting my kitchen with the whirring of electronics and the rumble and quick swipe of cars rolling by on the road near the house. I am thinking about time and being slightly colder than normal here my concentration is not focused entirely on the words that I am writing. 

Jacket now on.

In this time of year there is a marked change in the soundscape because of snow. The snow absorbs and minimizes sounds and with that changes our perception of the environment. I can hear sounds from distant places and not hear others that create a emptiness or even dead-like feeling. The crunching, stumbling and skidding along with new novel additions created "on the fly" to our sonic vocabulary allow us to see and hear and understand our current spaces with a clear, dry and crystalline mindset. Snow mutes and shifts our auditory focus. Right now, we are in a rapid melting trend as the 3 feet gradually shifts to liquid and then disappears. 

Another aspect to this morning is the computerize sonic additions from my son who is home because of the snowed out city school system and while he is busy battling Lego versions of Darth Vader and many stormtroopers, the mix of the game system with the kitchen and my distant outdoor sounds make a soup that can be overwhelming but also comforting know that he is happy while I sit and try to listen to all sounds. The contrasts are strong and the dominating sounds of the game take can take over a significant part of the sonic environment because of there complexity that my mind tunes into and tries to understand. 

The gale and the air conditioning

As I begin thinking about sound and noise in my office at St. Mary's I begin to hear the whir of the air conditioning and the notifications from my phone. The bells drone and then dissipate with their synthesized decrescendos. These sounds ebb and change the constant hum as I focus on this current writing piece. What am I writing, I am not sure but I feel that I am attempting to document what I am hearing as  I hear it. At this moment there is a wind-like buzz coming from the central air that creates an image which places me not here in my office but instead outside, in a field standing up against the force of the gale. It is a far distance place in my mind but it is a place where I travelled as I begin to think about sound and describing it in this more mundane office.