Noise and sound.


On Wednesdays the “landscapers” arrive to do their work in my community (Glen Oaks Ridge), and in the adjoining community (Glen Oaks Manor).

This means that Wednesdays are noisy.  My ears are assailed with the sounds of grass mowers the size of tanks (I exaggerate), of edgers, of trimmers, of chain saws, of shrub trimmers, and of those ghastly gas (petrol) fuelled leaf blowers.

The bothersome noise continues from 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

It is not very pleasant.

These dreaded noisy Wednesdays annoy me.
But they also remind me of more pleasant landscaping sounds.


Mr. and Mrs. Hurkett lived across the street from our home on Devon Road, Bristol, U.K. Their home was at the intersection of Devon Road and Stepney Road. It was a larger house than ours; with a big back garden which reached all the way back to the L.M.S. railway line.  Mr. Hurkett intrigued and fascinated me because he often told me that he had been a tinker.

He was a keen gardener. He took care of a largish lawn, filled with little daisies.

On summer evenings I would hear the sounds of his mowing with and old fashioned rotary mower.  “Click, Click, Click” and he went forward. “Click, Click, Click” as he drew the mower back. I remember it as a comforting sound.

Mr. Stacey lived two doors away.  He was an Insurance Agent – which meant that he was “pretty important” in our neighbourhood.   He had a little car -  an Austin or a Morris – with a very shiny chromium radiator grill.

He and Mrs. Stacey had a long front yard.  The walkway was flanked with rose bushes and with a privet hedge.   The bushes and the hedge needed to be trimmed.  Mr. Stacey did this with old-fashioned shears.  “Clip, Clip, Clip” was the noise they made.  It sounded so good.


At the risk of being deemed  a Luddite, or of being sentimental, or of basking in inaccurate memories I assert that the   “Click, Click, Click” of Mr. Hurkett’s lawn mower, and the “Clip, Clip, Clip” of Mr. Stacey’s shears were more comforting and gracious than the blaring noises of our local “landscapers”.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Shoe insults

Last year I consulted with a local podiatrist: Dr. Robert F Herbold Jr. D.P.M. 4717 Swift Rd., Sarasota , FL – 34231  because I was being bothered with a couple of bunions  (yes I am at that age). I was very impressed with this Doctor.  He agreed that I had bunions, but he ventured that it was much too soon for surgery. (Now there’s a first). Instead he recommended some “arch supports” to relieve the tension for my feet, a tension which was exacerbating the bunions. What’s more -  he told me that he sells these arch supports at the miserly sum of $2.50 each (about 1/5 of the price in the local pharmacies). He is an honest man, and I recommend him to anyone with foot problems. So, a couple of weeks ago, having purchased some new walking shoes, I knew that I needed to buy a couple of new arch supports I took myself to his office. Once there, my mind went blank. I wanted to ask his front desk Clerk if I could buy some “shoe inserts” , as I could not rem...
Read more

It began in Bristol U.K. "A man dies" and "Jesus Christ Superstar"

Image
I well remember the swirling controversy in Bristol, U.K. when a (Presbyterian) Minister the Revd, Earnest Marviin created a ":Rock Opera", called "A Man Dies"  in and for his congregation in the Lockleaze area of Bristol, U.K. Earnest Mrvin I was a sixteen years old member of the Plymouth Brethren Church back in those days, so I most likely disapproved of "A Man Dies" .  We, (the Plymouth Brethren),  disapproved of everything! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I had forgotten all about "A Man Dies" until earlier today when saw these pictures on the "Bristol, Then and Now"  Facebook page.   St. James Presbyterian Church, Lockleaze, Bristol  The Bristol Then and Now page includes the following commentary: Lockleaze, Bristol  -  'Jesus Christ Superstar' began at St.James (Presbyterian) Chur...
Read more

The background, the couple, my friends, the wedding ceremony, the Shaykh, the Priest,

Image
The background   I have known the Keller/Bonsey family since 2000 when I became the Rector at St. James's, Cambridge, MA. They (Elisabeth Keller and the Revd. Steven Bonsey with their four children Noah, Sam, Josiah and Annie) had come back to Cambridge from Hawaii where Steve had been the Rector of an Episcopal parish. Steve had just been appointed as a Chaplain at Tufts University (no Sunday morning duties) so the entire family was able to enrich our common life at St. James's - which they did with great love and joy. I count them as friends and have stayed in touch with them since my retirement.  Noah, the oldest son is eloquent in Arabic (he spent a year in Damascus when Syria was a safe place).  He has developed a super career as an analyst of social media in the near East.    Noah worked in Tampa for a while a few years ago, so he and I were a...
Read more