The Sounds of Summer

Great horned owls calling back and forth, one voice deep and hollow, the answering owl higher pitched and urgent. Sometimes they talk over each other. Just like us.

The cheezy dance music from yet another mediocre wedding band at the nearby country club. Thankfully over by midnight - you can set your watch by them.

The crickets singing me to sleep. When I left for college for weeks I could not sleep without that sound.

The neighbors getting into their hot tub...at 2 a.m... to smoke cigars and discuss intimate things. We really don't need to know.

The springtime frogs. When we had a pond we hired the neighbor kids to find, corral and relocate the deep-throated frog singing his love call all night just under our bedroom window. Great kerfuffle and planning in the hunt, great excitement when they caught him. We had been expecting something the size of a brick, fat and mottled, but he was sleek and bright green and not much bigger than a quarter.

The kids down the hill and across the street (they must be in their thirties by now - why are they still living at home?) at 2 a.m. (I'm seeing a pattern here) drunk, in the street, slamming car doors, playing music, swearing. Loudly. Must every f-bomb be at full volume?

The soft ruffle of a breeze announcing the temperature is dropping.

The mockingbird whose clock is off. He begins at 2 a.m. (there it is again) and the cascading liquid notes are so beautiful I am happy to be awake just to hear him.

The hissing of sprinklers. The late night laughter of children up long past their bedtimes. The soft snoring      of the ones I love next to me. Two legs and four - they both snore.

What are your sounds of summer?