What Germany Sounds Like

Yesterday I came home to a new view outside our bedroom window. Our neighbor chopped down his tree, and in doing so, gave us a lovely cut of sky previously hidden by an enormous evergreen. The absence of the tree changed more than our view. No longer does a choir of birds began rehearsal at 4:30 am outside of our window. I'm afraid the tree housed several apartments of birds who have now been displaced.

For a while I thought it was only our corner of Kandern, but our friends, Ben and Mary, visited from Denver last week, and Mary remarked on how many birds there were in Germany. I began to realize that birds were chirping all over Kandern at all hours of the day and night. I suppose this is part of living in a forest. Or at least the Black Forest.

This got me thinking about the sounds of life in Germany and how people connect their experiences with sounds. You know how sometimes a song comes on the radio and stops you in your tracks and suddenly you're back in college again and you haven't felt that feeling since...the last time you heard that song? I'm sure there are songs that will someday remind me of Germany, but there are other sounds, too.

And try as I might to give you a picture of what life in Germany is like through stories and pictures, I can't explain it fully without telling you how Germany sounds. So, in honor of the poetry unit we're doing in English class, I give you my free verse poem (and some pictures) about what Germany sounds like.

Germany sounds like birds, laughing and reveling in their Black Forest home.

Germany sounds like church bells, consistently tossing out musical confetti on the hour.

Germany sounds like barking dogs-though each is legally allowed only half an hour per day.

Germany sounds like the rev of a manual engine that I still have not tamed.

Germany sounds like quiet, while shopping in stores I used to expect to play music.

Germany sounds like, "Choos!", the sing-songy farewell after every bakery transaction.

Germany sounds like the river, running loudly through town.

Germany sounds like buses, running even louder.

Germany sounds like middle schoolers singing through the halls, "Let it go! Let it go!...The cold never bothered me anyway."

Maybe next week I'll tell you what Germany smells like! :)