Monday's Blog; The Night Symphony

The noises in the night in the numerous and varied campgrounds and parks in which we perch when on the road, are so different; sometimes staying quietly in the background, on the edge of our our attention.  Sometimes they are loud, annoying and incessant keeping us from focusing on anything but the noise. 

Last night, while awake for awhile, I heard only one continuous sound, the droning hum of the nearby highway, not loud, not annoying but never ceasing. However, in my experience, this is not the average sound of the night.  The passing of Cars, motorcycles, buses or big trucks stomping on their Jake brakes applied while descending a grade producing a very loud, long lasting screeching blast of sound and prohibited in most counties. Here, the night sounds were indeed a steady low toned hum, continuous, without volume, tone or pitch change. 

There were no birds singing, no coyotes barking, no trains passing by, no boat whistles, campground noise or voices partying late into the quiet hours. I especially missed the early morning bird and animal sounds. Camping in Sanford, Fl, I expected to hear birds singing How strange.  

Abut 12 hours after my bout with sleeplessness, we took a walk on the trail leading into the park and swampland surrounding us. The sunlight glowed, lighting its way through the dense forest.

The sounds were still subdued, subtle and steady. There was still a lack of bird song. To my delight we walked through a cypress grove. 

To me, Cypress groves are a passion in the strange triangular bases of the trees trunks, the cypress knees that remain mysterious in their purpose.  This grove was very quiet. I heard only occasional sounds, mostly of limbs rubbing together in the breeze, accompanied by the same droning hum of the night from the nearby expressway and accompanied by the silence of the leaves falling before us. The effect was quite stunning.

I anticipate the night symphony continuing tonight wondering if the sounds will vary at all, Perhaps there will be a change in the traffic sounds, a stray cat whining as it searches for something delectable only to a cat, or a plane, a train or a clap of thunder. I am hoping to hear bird song in early dawn. I am not sure anything will change.