What’s That Sound?

I heard a suspicious amount of scuffling late in the afternoon yesterday while I was at home. At first it sounded like the noise was coming from somewhere in my room or even on the floor, but after some hard listening, I determined it was actually coming from the roof. It was sort of like a pitter-pattering knock as if someone were rapping their knuckles against the wall at a queer, irregular beat. Something was definitely moving on the roof back and forth for several paces. If I had to guess, it was either a bird or a squirrel. This morning I woke to the same knocking sounds on the roof. It reminded me of past days during the spring and summer seasons when it was common for me to hear the soft clink of house sparrow feet as they landed on the roof over the backyard stair landing. They would hop all over it and sometimes peck at it as if trying to see if it was edible. The sounds used to drive my dog Panda (RIP) crazy, especially since he could see the shadow of the birds on the roof from the kitchen window door.

The weather was a pleasant 51 degrees today so I got to open my window more than just a teeny sliver. Yay!! How funny it is that winter rarely makes me excitable except when I get the odd warmer than usual temperature. I’m not out of the woods yet though. I’ll suffer through February but at least it’ll be slightly less cold than it was in the prior month. A lone black colored bird was standing on a weather vane on the roof of the house across the street. It was cawing. I couldn’t tell what kind of bird it was. For a moment I wished I could understand bird speak and to know what it was saying. A very loud bus rolled down the road just then. It’s such an everyday, ordinary sound people are used to. The bird didn’t budge from its perch and didn’t seem to care much for the rumbling either, though I wondered how long it took for the bird in his lifetime to assimilate and to understand such a massive thing like that is of no danger or concern to him as long as it is not in his way.

When I was a child, the hiss of the heat radiator used to scare me as I thought the sound was a bit unnatural and it reminded me of a snake’s hiss, although I had never been in the presence of a real snake before. Nowadays when I hear the radiator going, the “chuffing” noise almost sounds human, like someone who has trouble breathing. The shrill high-pitched whistling it gives makes me think of a shrieking baby. The absolute worst from a radiator in the dead of the night is the abrupt banging of its pipes. Many a time I’ve woken up and been kept awake because of it.

This afternoon, someone outside was repeatedly turning on their engine to try and get their car to start. I realized after this was going on for more than 15 minutes that the noise annoyed the heck out of me; probably because the person wasn’t giving up even though it was clear the car was not working. At least with a car alarm, it’s something that goes off on its own and no one is in control of it when it happens. I can feel pissed off about an alarm but also have the satisfaction of imagining myself bashing in the hood of the vehicle until it stops. Hypothetically, I mean. I would never make that a reality, lol (except in my head).