Friday, November 18, 2011

Another inconsequential meandering ...

Today we had snow!

With the temperature now hovering near the freezing mark, I fondly recall an unusually warm September evening, two scant months ago.

My office window was wide open to cool the room, yet no breeze stirred the air. I was listening to Santana's
Smooth when I heard a rustling sound just below the window, where shrubs grow thick and flowers bloom all summer and into the fall.

An animal, I thought, perhaps attracted by the music. And I wondered, do animals hear music as music? Or is it simply sound to them, part of the background noise that comes with society?

Of course animals hear. [I discovered spiders can hear when a very large spider appeared in my basement. I said, "eek!" The spider jumped six inches into the air, then scurried on.] Animals differentiate loud and angry from soft and calm. They know the roar of a motor, the crack of thunder, children laughing.


Some dogs and cats, some wild things, too, howl along to certain tones. But do animals hear the beat, the rhythm, the shades of music? Do they feel it? Do they rock to the Rolling Stones? Sway to jazz, tap their paws to upbeat dance tempo, weep to the sad violins of Schubert's Serenade?
Was a cat, mouse, maybe even a snake listening enrapt to Santana?

An intriguing thought, made all the more possible when the song ended and whatever had been there rustled away.


Then reality, as it always does, popped my little bubble of fantasy. You see, my husband had been outside watering flowers, and the sound I heard had been him dragging the hose through the shrubbery.

I don't give up easily, though. I spent some time at You Tube where a dedicated searcher can find anything rather quickly, and found a few videos that could confirm that yes, animals hear music as music.

Decide for yourself.













--Cat

Wednesday, November 02, 2011

Hallowe'en

October 31, 2011
Pumpkins and that little devil, Roxy, ready to rumble.


November 1, 2011
The party's over...



--Cat