tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1438289051411770399.post4469223312000862101..comments2024-03-28T09:51:55.365-06:00Comments on ECOLOGY WITHOUT NATURE: Fish Sounds, Coral and YouTimothy Mortonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05067377804366363020noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1438289051411770399.post-86107206008222490782014-10-15T17:35:10.623-05:002014-10-15T17:35:10.623-05:00Sound is a subject very close to my mind. When I w...Sound is a subject very close to my mind. When I was about 10 I borrowed (stole, really) a bunch of records from my Grandmother that were recordings of bird calls. I sat & listened to them, & realized that I now knew something other kids didn't know. I became a very advanced amateur ornithologist, & by the time I was 13 knew the call of every bird in the eastern US. But the real significance of that signpost is something I've only recognized in about the last month or so: ever since then, I have always been looking OUT instead of IN. In any group of people standing or sitting or even working outside, I'm usually the only one looking or listening out from where we are. I'm the first one who hears the owl, sees the badger, notices the leaves move, etc. I always knew about birds (or thought I knew all I cared to know), but when I started listening to them is when everything changed. Things changed again when I really started learning guitar and could FEEL through my fingers what I was hearing. Suddenly I could conceptualize better. But the bird song thing was the real kicker. I hardly ever meet anyone who EVER looks or listens OUT from the "human" space we're all sort of clustered around in and supposed to be paying attention to. I really don't often see what people find so interesting in here, actually. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com