Summer is the time to be outside. We see and hear what nature has to offer and, in doing so, we can increase our ability to listen. With so many venues closed this year, more families than ever are outdoors. I find myself wondering what they’re hearing, what sounds will be imprinted in their memories of the summer of 2020.
One of my sons is a birder. He searches for and observes birds. He also listens for them. If you’re a serious birder like him and you track the species you find, you know that you can count a species if you hear it. Even if you don’t see it. This is particularly helpful for ‘getting’ birds that hop around deep in the cattails and owls that call in the dark.
I think I’m particularly bad at remembering what birds sound like. Even after I’ve heard a recording multiple times. Then again, I have noticed that certain bird calls are ingrained in my memory. A crow’s insistent gravely cawing will remind me of drizzly Michigan mornings. The strident call of a Blue Jay is my high school summers spent working on a horse farm. Peacocks are the birds who cried plaintively up on my roof in Florida the year I was 25. Here in Colorado, the call of the Red-Wing Blackbird is a pond with cattails while the Western Meadowlark is a summer morning on any open meadow trail here on the front range.
These are all very distinctive bird calls. I didn’t have to make a conscious effort to hear them. Imagine how many species I could identify if I listened more closely.
If you sit and think a moment, I’m sure you’ll come up with sounds of nature that remind you of certain times in your life. Maybe it’s birds, but it could also be cicadas, crickets, boreal chorus frogs, coyotes, wind, rain, or a rushing river. It may take time in nature and a conscious effort to remind you of these sounds. I didn’t make the connection between Blue Jays and my high school summers until a recent hike.
The next time you’re outside, listen. What do you hear and what does it remind you of? What do your children hear? Summer is the time when we are most likely to form these sound memories connected with nature. In winter, most are inside and surrounded by the sounds of home. The creaky stair step, the squeaky door hinges, and the distinctive footsteps of each member of our family. These are the sounds you always hear but don’t consciously register. These are your auditory memories.
Let’s forget for a moment that time in nature is just generally awesome and great for you. While listening can connect you with nature, it’s also a great way to think about increasing your capacity to listen. To model listening skills for your children in an arena far removed from the great tangle of humanity we live in.
I think the majority of us are bad listeners. Myself included. We talk too much. We hear too little. And then we only hear what we want to hear. What we agree with. If we demonstrate an effort to listen, first in nature and then perhaps in other parts of our lives, maybe we can raise children who can be better than us. Who can navigate that great tangle of humanity with more ease. Which I think is a pretty good goal.
Thank you to Reed Gorner for contributing photos for this post.