Musical outdoor...

Music fills our life even without us realising it. But different people interpret it differently. To some, they sound like music but most people will describe it as noise, unbearable and a nuisance! In my life music starts from dawn, the Azan from the nearby mosque, will call/summon the Muslims to remind them of their morning prayer. Then about 6.45 am, I can hear the burung kelicap, chip chirping near my bedroom window. I thought they have a nest on my mengkudu tree, but when I went to have a look...there was nothing. It seems that the birds, though I cant identify all of them, are making my tree their resting place during the day and sleeping time at night. They are congregating in my garden maybe because of my Selamat Datang (Welcome) sign I hang there!

Welcome sign in my garden, welcoming everybody, friends and foes, birds and the bees, caterpillars, butterflies and grasshoppers.....!

burung kelicap like this, chip chirping on my mengkudu tree every morning!

My neighbour's cockerel used to cock-a-doodle-do every morning, just like in a kampung when I was a kid. Then suddenly there were no morning calls from him. When I enquired, I was told that he was stolen by somebody....haha...luckily not eaten by the fox! Its such a novelty when you get morning calls from a cockerel when you live in a city.

Then I have this water running out from the urn in my pond, in front of my bedroom window, to soothe my nerves in the early morning and lull me to sleep at night. The trinkling of the water is a soft melodius music to my ears! And adding to that, the musical mating croaks of the frogs near my pond during the rainy season, sound like the air organ, so masculine and booming but still music to the ears (at least mine)!

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bamboo wind chime from Langkawi, a tropical in nature and appearance and natural in sound....

What else are making music outdoor? Yes....the wind chimes! A visual and aural garden ornaments played by the wind. I love them, so I hang a few in my garden, to be entertained by their own musical chimes while pottering around in my garden. I can hear the klak, klak, klak low notes of the bamboo wind chimes when there's a strong breeze.

the seashells wind chime, not only charming looking but melodius in sound..


Japanese wind chime with the 'flag' fluttering in the wind making sweet music..

The memory of such sweet music from a wind chime, was when I heard it at my uncle's house when I was small. My uncle married a beautiful Chinese lady from Taiping. It was a simple jade wind chime like the Japanese wind chime above, hung near one of their windows, which left a deep imprint in my brain until now! Some culture like the Chinese, wind chimes are good to have around your house to chase away the evil and bad spirits and to welcome good fortune. But to some people, like my late Dad, though at times he was quite an open-minded person, believed having wind chimes was like making invitation or signal to those evil spirits to come and party at our house! So no wind chimes when he was around, very pantang (taboo)!

The shrill ting ting ting of the aluminium and glass wind chime, my son gave me a few months back, can be heard from inside the house if its windy in the garden. So I'm bringing the outside music in. With the klak klak of the bamboo and the softer tinkling sound of the seashells, my day is complete with the sounds of music from the garden. Not noise, but music to my ears!