Remember a couple weeks ago, I wrote about the whippoorwill (here)? (This time, no hyphens.) When I went to the Catskills that weekend, I listened but didn't hear it. I think, I hope it's because they stay deep in the woods, and the sound of the waterfall is very loud next to the house. But that night I was haunted by the sound, I heard it in my head, and realized it was a sound of my childhood, when we lived in the Virginia woods, summer nights, the windows open, falling asleep to the song of the whippoorwill.
I think of smells as having that visceral, deja-vu power, but not sounds. In this case though, the sound of the whippoorwill inhabited my five year old self, so deeply that now the sound takes me back to that time, deeper than a memory.
Hello Jen:
ReplyDeleteIt really is extraordinary how certain sounds can evoke all kinds of memories, often those buried quite deeply in the past. We find the same can be said of particular scents.
Jane and Lance--The evocative power of scent has long fascinated me, but the ability of sounds (except for music of course) to do so, is a new idea for me, one I will be thinking about....
DeleteSpeaking of "the evocative power of scent", I remember the movie "the end of the ocean", where the memory of the scent plays a critical part in a boy who once was abducted.
DeleteAs for the sound, the cicadas, the frogs, the crickets...or the sound of waves lapping against the shore bring me back certain scenes of the past.
Sorry, the movie title is "the deep end of the ocean" adapted from a best-selling book by Jacquelyn Mitchard.
DeleteYou are so right. I always like the sound of a distant dog barking at night. Some connection with my childhood and going to sleep on summer evenings.
ReplyDeleteOnce August comes, birds are quieter. My mom always felt sad toward the end of July because the robins had stopped singing in the evenings.
Karen--I didn't know that about birds. I am such a superficial nature lover! :)
DeleteSweet line about your mother.
I imagined quite calm nights when you were a kid. I also think of the environment with full of nature. I could hear his "whippoorwill" thanks to you.
ReplyDeleteOutside the nights were calm, inside not so much. Maybe that's why the outside is so important to me.
DeleteMy little dog certainly sat up when I played your sound clip just then Jen. Isn't amazing how something triggers our memories just like that, and instantly transports us back.
ReplyDeleteWhy have I never thought about this before? Now I want to know what sounds bring back memories for you guys. (Except for music.)
DeleteIn Corfu this summer the cicade song brought me back my grandma...& that feeling that time is not functioning somehow. That everything is here. Around us, inside us. Living their own timeless life... Your post is very touching and so is the song of the whippoorwil
ReplyDeleteDemie--that is lovely. Just the words circada, Corfu, and grandma in one sentence...beautiful!
Deletei love this post. the sounds of summer hit deep in the core of childhood.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things I love about your posts is that they are always filled with sensory observations. Sensual.
DeleteSuch a beautiful memory! I know what you mean. There are two bird calls that take me back to my childhood. The two note call of a chickadee and the trill of a red-winged black bird. Such a beautiful post!
ReplyDeleteThis is lovely - I think the sound of a train off in the distance at night when all is quiet and the calls of wild geese. They never fail to move me.
ReplyDeleteMary
Oh--those are great! Those night train sounds are haunting. I have wild geese memories too--of Thanksgiving with my uncles on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.
DeleteHello Jen
ReplyDeleteThat is a beautiful memory. I have fond memories of the cuckoo. We looked forward to their visit each summer.
Thanks for sharing this
Helenxx