I thought I heard the trees hum once. It was closing in on
dusk, I had had a turbulent week and I was partaking in one of the few relaxing
pleasures I had at the time: walking.
I had dropped my dog off at home and had continued on my own
by this point. Having exhausted my path on the sad excuse of a Nature Trail for
the day, I continued on in the opposite direction towards a wall of trees
destined to be cut down for further development somewhere down the line.
It was the most beautiful sound I have ever heard and, to
this day, I’m not sure where it actually originated from: maybe I was having
auditory hallucinations caused by stress, or maybe the idea was already planted
in my mind after hearing about a new method of detecting cancer.
Human cells “scream” when they are exposed to infrared.
Cancer cells apparently omit an out-of-tune sound that is noticeably different
from healthy, noncancerous cells.
If cancer cells and cells used to create human tissue have a
sound, then the cells of a tree or any other plant must have a sound as well.
The music was deep. It hit you in your soul, or, at least,
in my soul. It was reminiscent of Gregorian chants, only at a lower tone and
more of a hum than an actual chant. It was like the Dharmic “Om”—a mix of the
two. It was other-worldly in a sense, haunting. I felt like I was partaking in
a highly guarded secret of the ages, like I was privy to some fundamental
knowledge that only a select few ever stumbled across. I had a fleeting glimpse
into Nirvana, like the secrets of the universe were unfolding before me to the
tune of the trees.
There was a quality of clarity to it. That even though I couldn't fully comprehend what it was that I was experiencing, what it was
about this sound that made me feel so strongly and alien-like as it did, I was completely convinced of every conviction I had pertaining to the world and life as I want it
to be. It reassured my worldviews.
I haven’t heard the music again. I listen for it when I walk
around town, but maybe the trees just don’t sing over here.
Well first off, I want to say that your blog fits so perfectly with mine. Mostly on the sounds of music and the most recent blog you had posted about St. Thomas. Mine is about island life, music, and politics. Kind of a Mumbo Jumbo of ideas!
ReplyDeleteI like the image you chose for this blog. It is very surreal looking and goes well with the narrative of your piece. And the background is great! It is much like a galaxy and the dark space under just makes it seem infinite. Even your "About me" goes well with the background. No two identical realities...infinite paradoxes. I love that. If the background of the blog posts was black, just as the background, maybe with white text or any contracting text colors, it would really complete the feeling of "infinite paradoxes." And I like the relatability I have to this post (even if it is fictitious) because with stress or even zoning out, I feel as I can hear the nature speaking to me. And no, I am not a schizo! And then I go off in my own surrealist thoughts, just as this post seems to do. And once I step back to reality, it seems I can never hear the same spot of nature speaking to me. This feels like it belongs in Mumbo Jumbo and in Nadja. It feels so real to the realist, and yet, it has a surrealist undertone that only the imaginative ones can see.