Slice of Life: The Rhythm of the Night

(This is a post for Slice of Life, a regular writing activity hosted by Two Writing Teachers. We write about the small moments. You are invited. Come write with us.)

Nature has a beauty all of its own. So, when the sleet is using my house as a drum pad all night, I can both appreciate the music of it as well as wish Mother Nature would give it a break. The drums were a mix of hard staccato beats, the wind providing an energetic pounding, and the soft jazzy brush of light tapping, almost as if somewhere, someone was playing their saxophone underneath the street light.

And still, the music played.

I’m awake now, early morning, and so can appreciate the different tones, of how sleet hitting the window sound different from sleet hitting the slanted roof over the sun room, and now those two are different from the sound of sleet hitting the basement bulkhead door.

I can appreciate it here, in my dry house, with coffee going and school just called closed. But I know the dog is going to get up soon, and I am going to have to head out into this music, feeling the drumsticks on my head and face, and the leftover sounds from the night’s jam session crunching beneath my feet. My appreciation for music might not last.

Peace (sounds like),
Kevin

12 Comments
  1. This description of feeling sleet, “feeling the drumsticks on my head and face” is perfect! Enjoy your snow day, friend and stay warm.

  2. I read your post listening to the staccato beat of sleet on my windows. I appreciate your clever musical version and will experience the remainder of the storm here with a new perspective. Enjoy your snow day!

  3. I’m having the same experience in my own dry house with the woodstove glowing and my children sleeping soundly. No dog to take out, but honestly I wish we did have one. Getting out has it’s value too. Stay safe and inside as much as possible.

  4. I, too, love the sounds of a storm and sometimes even think of them as soothing. The contrast between being indoors and outdoors becomes so much greater in a storm. However, I never thought of the sounds as jazz beats; I suspect now I will! Lovely post because it is so authentically you!

  5. Observed and written like a true musician! I love rainy days for writing for the same reason. Hope your journey out into the ‘music’ with your dog was a safe and short one. Enjoy your day off.

  6. As I went through my RSS reader tonight I started to skim quickly through this post. I got caught up and had to go back and savor it. Thank you for this beauty.

  7. Storm music… it can even be enjoyable when you are in your “dry house, with coffee going and school just called closed.” Lovely description.

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