Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Shhhh...

Soon comes the window-closing time. Down with the sashes that have stayed open all summer. Out with the screens, in with the storms. Caulking putty in all the cracks, one by one, sealing out both cold and sound. Goodbye, screams and squeals of backyard children. Goodbye, strains of neighbor's cheesy accordion. Goodbye, chirps of late-migrating songbirds and caws of early-roosting crows. Goodbye, rustle of morning-glory vines and woosh of wind in the maple leaves. Goodbye, patter of rain on the deck and thrump of rain on the overturned kayak's hull. Goodbye, bang of the kitchen screen door. Goodbye, skrattle of squirrels on the stockade fence. Soon comes the silent season. In spring I will hear you all again, and you will deafen me.

6 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

this post reminds me of my favourite book, Time of Wonder (McCloskey). lovely.

9/27/06, 9:43 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

You forgot about the plastic film over the windows to keep out the drafts, which are so common to older New England homes. :D

10/1/06, 1:32 AM  
Blogger Katinka said...

Great piece of writing...made me smile!

10/1/06, 2:49 PM  
Blogger Katinka said...

ps(congratulations on the 11,589 visits recorded on your ClustrMap for the "Previous 'day'". You beat me by about 2,000 visits...which is quite a feat since the previous day I supposedly had a staggering sum of 0 :P)

pps(At least I have a Fiji spot now)

10/2/06, 3:09 AM  
Blogger Katinka said...

(actually, on second check it's New Zealand...*sigh*)

10/2/06, 3:15 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

You are ahead of Turbopop this year for winterizing your windows. Here is how we make it less painful: do windows in bathrooms (and pantry) first. You will hardly notice the loss. Then work around the house doing only one window per room at the start. That way, if a good Indian summer day comes up, you have a few windows to open. Then do windows in least favorite rooms working up to the final one. Beautiful piece of writing.

10/5/06, 11:15 AM  

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