Catch Jim’s podcast: https://youtu.be/YK69HWATHik
or read the transcript below:
Life, actually…
SQUAWK! SPLOIT!
Squawk!
What’s that sound? I’m lying here nestled all snug in my bed, but the squawk! awakens me.
Squawk!
There it goes again. I roll over and glance about. Nothing. Maybe I’m doze-dreaming. I close my eyes and drift.
Squawk!
This time I pop alert and see the heavy wooden bedroom door swing open. Liz is entering, freshly showered and dressed, ready to face the morning just ahead of me.
“Did you say something?” she asks. She’s adjusting and donning her hearing aids and wonders whether the squawk was my voice calling out.
“Nope,” I reply. Now I see—it’s the door making the noise, begging for lubricant to magically arrive and address its unhinged pain.
Liz descends the stairs, heading for her 6:30am Zoom meeting. I can tell she’s descending the stairs because of the music they make.
Creak! Moan!
Our home was constructed in 1906, so we can hear or feel just about any movement within.
Creak! Moan!
I lie here, dreaming of oil cans. When was the last time I really saw one? It’s all WD-40 these days. Spray containers with little red straws that pop across the room, containing something oily that may not really be oil.
Thunk! Pop!
That’s the sound I remember! With an old long-spouted oil can, all I have to do is tilt and aim and press the bottom to release the oil. That’s where the sound comes from. Thunk! as I press, Pop! as I unpress and the metal returns to its original shape.
Suddenly a concert ensues in my mind. All the long-ago magical instruments of childhood bow beneath my baton.
Clink! Jingle! The sound of belt loop metal coin dispensers worn by village bus drivers so long ago. Give a quarter, receive two dimes and a five-cent piece. Clink! Jingle! An entire fortune of nickel and copper at your fingertips.
In memory so green, I now hear the special mechanical Whirr! of a rotary dial landline phone. Try to spell THAT sound! The “Zztt” sound of string rubbing against spinning wooden yo-yo. The echoing Crackle! of popcorn quivering in an old stovetop skillet. The Sploit! of a freshly opened can of beans being dumped into a pot. TheThunk! of a loose manhole cover as passing cars roll over it.
You can take it from here.
Join the fun as we together catalog and cherish sounds that may disappear as they are replaced by newfangled gadgets.
Being of sound mind and fragile body, I immerse myself in fond memories for another jiffy. Then, I head for the hallway to face the morn, listening once more to the Squawk! of real life, past and present
© 2020 A.D. by Jim Reed
Belt loop coin dispenser.