Ice tea....aaaaaah! Image via Wikipedia
I listen to NPR every day — and they’re running a lovely series called Summer Sounds. The one I heard yesterday was “screen door slamming.” So true!
Others have included golf, a steel drum and firecrackers.
Some of mine include:
The clang-clang-clang of a metal halyard against a sailboat mast
The gluoup sound of a canoe paddle digging deeply into cool, dark lake water
The lap of water against stone at lakeside
The haunting call of a loon
The clink of ice cubes in a glass of ice tea or lemonade — or (oooh, yes please!) a Tanqueray and tonic
The crunch of bus wheels on gravel, the sound of arriving at summer camp one more time, eight weeks of joy ahead
The gentle murmur of voices on the patio in the dark
The low steady hum of the air conditioner
The whine of mosquitoes (and the slap of getting one!)
The sing-song tune of the Good Humor truck
The sizzle of food cooking on a grill
The flapping of flip-flops
The farting noise when you try to squirt out the tube’s last little bit of sunscreen
The roaring buzz of cicadas
The splash of someone diving into a pool
The roar of a motorboat engine
How about you?
First, thank you for “gluoup.” Rest assured I will be stealing that one.
There is one sound that is distinct enough for me to try to describe, and if you could spell that one I would be profoundly grateful. It is the rattling collision of a bicycle chain against the chain guard in motion when a bike travels over a bumpy surface. It may be annoying, but it is the sound of adventure to a young boy.
Thought you might like it!
I’m thinking…ching-ching-ching-ching-ching-ching…? I know that sound very well. Love it!
I like the sound of a garage band practicing (as long as it’s at least a block away)
And the sound of a baseball game on the radio.
Oooh, love that! Especially since we can never afford tix to the Mets or Yankees.
You put some of my favorites including the canoe and the loon. How about the crackle of a bonfire. Or, the sound I am listening to at the moment, the wail of a train whistle leaving for adventure. Oh, and the jingle of an ice cream truck beckoning young and old–love that sound.
oooh, yes, a bonfire! It’s a delicious sound, all those random pops and crackles. We have a train that carries cargo across the river and its whistle is another favorite, year-round.
The sounds of robins or cardinals loudly complaining and competing early in the morning. The “shush” that car tires make on nearby roads when all the windows are open. The slap of a palm into a kiddie pool followed by squeals of tot laughter. 10 a.m. on a Saturday and six mowers can be heard in the medium distance all droning along as the neighborhood crops its lawns.
The tire sound is so distinctive…and the drone of mowers, for sure.
There’s a bird around these parts (no idea what it is) with a very distinctive song. It sounds like it’s saying, “Three Cheers! TWEET! TWEET! TWEET!” It’s one of my favorite sounds of summer.
What a wonderful audio post. I could hear everything you mentioned. In fact, I hear many of the sounds you included. We also hear tree frogs serenading us at night. Here’s to the sounds of summer!
Frogs, for sure…I was up at a friend’s rural home in Ontario and boy did the frogs make a racket!
I love that special, humming pitter-patter that you get when you are standing under a tree in full bloom and the summer rain starts falling. And the swish-crunch of rolling down a dry grassy hill as fast as you can
Swish-crunch pretty much describes it!
Haven’t done that in a while.