Nightly Cacophony

Besides the obvious sounds that seem to go with the pulse of a large city, Los Angeles has a natural musical dissonance that erupts when night falls. It begins with the muffled sound of televisions in the late evening as people unwind after work. It's joined by the intermittent padding of flip flops or heels as they come in or go out for evening walks or nights on the town. Glasses clink and cans resonate as too large trash bags are thrown out. Someone has had a baby recently and the newborn cries each evening in the distance. Water drips from the end of the drainpipe to the pavement below, leftovers from thirsty plants. As the sound of local street traffic mutes, the incessant hum of the freeway kicks up cuing the orchestra of insects.

There are three distinct sounds that I can call out. One is from crickets, grasshoppers, or maybe cicadas? Whomever they are they chirp on and on without stopping, carrying the brunt of the harmony, extremely self-assured. The other bugs are more cautious, and a little more discerning than their counterparts. One bug has the sound of a snap, like the crackle of static electricity. Walking through the trees of the park or past those that line the sidewalk, they crackle both before and behind you antagonizing the walker that dares cross their path. The other bug hoots. It's a longing sound, the oboe of the group lending just the right hints of tenor and bass.

Cats meow. Bicycle peddles tinkle as they sweep down the street. The booming of a car radio interrupts from time to time. The sounds float through windows and dance toward the cloudless skies where hints of stars peep through the city's curtain of light. Perhaps such sounds would be oppressive in a city with tall skyscrapers or high hills, but deep within the open valley just north of Los Angeles the music of the night carries with it the hopes and regrets and frustration and fatigue and promise of the people who give it life.

And at moments when I find myself walking down the sidewalk or sitting on the back porch listening to this music, life seems a little less overwhelming and its endless possibilities seem a little more attainable.

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