I love the sound of kids playing, that rising and falling cadence of a dance, like faux brawling puppies. Sometimes when families come to stay at the AirBNB nearby, the parents apologise for the intrusion on my solitude and all I can say is ... 'that sound of kids playing is just the best.' It's so quiet here, most of the year. During the winter double grey months on the inlet, the silence is so absolute that I can hear the old tinnitus in my ears. The sound of children reminds me that it was once peopled extensively pre-colonisation ... that the sound of children is nothing new and also a kind of loss.
My dog Selkie loves it too when kids come to play. Selkie is a great healing dog for anyone, child or adult, who is afraid of big dogs. She looks scary initially, being a big rotti cross, but all she wants is to be loved/patted/sit on the lap of a homo sapien.
This evening a mob from the city turned up to stay at the AirBNB. Their son fell in love with Selkie on the beach and I had to cut a phone call short to make sure he got his cricket ball back. Selkie doesn't give up her trophies easily. She claims ownership over every spherical object on the beach. 'It's a bit slimy,' I explained to the boy, after I'd extracted said ball from the dog's jaws. 'Take care and don't tease her.' Selkie has a squeaky ball that looks ominously similar to the COVID19 virus, so I gave it to him to do a bait and switch with his own cricket ball.
Naked babies wallowing in the shallows at sunset. Their parents told me this is heaven. I tend to agree with them. Selkie had a ball, pun intended.
I, too, love the sound of children playing. We have a few new families in our neighborhood with young kids and when the weather is fine it's nice to sit outdoors and listen to them playing.
ReplyDeleteI miss that sound. When I hear it again, it's lovely. So quiet here normally.
DeleteI lived in a house overlooking a school playground once. I love that sound too.
ReplyDeleteYes I lived next door to a day care centre. Same.
DeleteSeminal album. I loved Cat Stevens. Very disappointed when he ditched music for religion.
ReplyDeleteThe sound of kids playing can be lovely, even for a grump like me who is not enamoured with children. But I really hate it when they scream constantly.