Remember the Peter, Paul, and Mary song “Blowin’ in the Wind”? Well, I don’t know if the answer is blowing in the wind, but I do know there is a lovely way to know the wind is coming through.
I can’t remember when I first fell in love with the sound of wind chimes but for as long as I can remember I have enjoyed hearing the melodious … and sometimes tinkling … sounds as the breeze hits the paddles on the chimes. The wind finds its way through the hanging structures and tickles the components designed to strike one another. Today as I sit with nothing particular to do or place to be, I can enjoy the music of the many wind chimes hung along my deck.
Usually, I just subtly enjoy the sounds emanating from the chimes but today I am focused on the joy of these little additions to my urban oasis. Often, I have wondered how the neighbors react to my chimes. My deck faces the side of one neighbor’s home and the gentleman who lives there is the nicest of people. He recently married. I was delighted when his beautiful wife added a chime to their front yard, joining mine in chorus.
I am reminded of a fun city – Casey, Illinois – where their tag line is “Big Things, Small Town.” Jim Bolin owned a pipeline business. On a family vacation his daughter fell in love with a tea shop in Colorado and asked her parents if they could start a tea shop in their small town. Jim felt they needed a way to draw people off the interstate to their tea shop. One day when he was listening to his wind chime, he wondered “what is the world’s largest wind chime?” Using pipes from his business it took two years to create just that. And the town caught on. This little town is full of “world’s largest” items. While some of their items may not be the world’s largest, all are still amazingly huge. The town is creative, innovative, and just plain fun. They love their visitors who stay, shop, and eat there … and who of course, take lots of pictures! I even bought a couple of wind chimes at the tea shop to take home as gifts along with the story of the town.
When selecting wind chimes, I admit I am a bit picky. Okay. I am very picky. I want chimes that have a lovely, tonal quality. Some chimes are pretty, festive, or cute but they have that shrill tinny sound that is more distracting than calming. Wind chimes don’t have to be large to produce soothing sounds. In fact, some of my lovely chimes are so heavy they only ring when the wind is blowing really hard. Those I enjoy just watching them sway while the others take on the responsibility of creating music.
Do you have a wind chime? Next time you have your door open or sit outside, take time to allow yourself to be enveloped by the sounds emanating from your chime. And then smile as you remember this is one way nature calls to you.
Silver Sage Sisters 