My Favorite Sounds

 I love this sounds of nature.

The sounds of nature are rarely nerve-janging or irritating as are so many artificial sounds. Just think about how the body reacts to the sounds of birds singing or frogs croaking. Then compare the reaction to honking car horns and the roar of jet engines.

These are some of my favorite sounds of nature:

• wolves howling. 
• the yapping of coyotes. 
• the sound a whale makes when it breaks the surface and exhales after a dive. 
• a trumpeting elephant 
• singing birds
• thunder, although my dogs would disagree. 
• rain hitting the skylights in my house 
• waves crashing on the shore 
• hippos snorting and grunting
• water running in a river or stream
• the braying of zebras
• the guttural roar of lions

I think my favorite natural sound is the sound of ... nothing. I love being out in nature, being still, and hearing nothing. Our world is so full of noise -- televisions, traffic, airplanes, barking dogs, cell phones -- that total silence makes some people uncomfortable. I find it a welcome change,

I'm not someone who has to have the television on "for the noise" if I'm not watching it. Sometimes I listen to classical radio, and once in a while I will play a music CD. But often my house is quiet.

I find loud, noisy places to be annoying and stressful. I don't like the sound of endlessly barking dogs. Crying babies and screeching toddlers drive me crazy. Cars with thumping 'music' make me irritable. Give me classical music, or modern jazz, any day.

One of the things I love about where I live is the quiet. I never hear traffic unless I'm outside in the yard. Once in a while, early in the morning, I will hear coyotes talking to each other through yips and howls. Sometimes, when I'm in the yard, I will hear the resident Cooper's hawks chattering. I enjoy these sounds. But best of all, I love the sound of silence.