THE ANSWER IS BLOWIN' IN THE WIND

“And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind...” (from Acts 2:2)

In this piece, I’m actually NOT writing about the sound of the wind, I’m writing about the sound of wind chimes.  I know this will sound very Andy Rooney-esque of me.  I really don’t like wind chimes.  I guess I’ll declare a truce on the very small wind chime ornaments that attach to an exterior door and make a pleasant little sound in the breeze.  I know my parents used to have one of those things, and I think many years ago, we did at our home for awhile.  Those little ones are not too bad.  But I’m about fit to be tied with the big ones.  Our next door neighbors, who REALLY  ARE nice people and good neighbors have a  big set of wind chimes on their front porch.  Every time the wind blows, it sounds as if someone outside is playing the glockenspiel or the xylophone, or some such percussion instrument.  

Now that I’m over fifty, I’m up at least once in the middle of the night to visit the bathroom.  There I am at 2 a.m. listening to “bllinngg, brrinnggg, llliiinnngggg,  rrrriiiinnnnggggg,    whistle-blinngg....”.  It’s loud, chimey, and annoying.  I thank God I really can’t hear it from my bedroom, or I’d have to sleep with earplugs!  

Yesterday I took a short walk around my neighborhood (as I often do). It seemed as if the wind chime sounds had doubled in intensity.  They had.  The house on the other side of my neighbors’ now has it’s own set of front porch wind chimes!  I know that in a sense they’re pretty, but the key words are “in a sense”.   Wind chimes get old - pretty fast.

I know I sound like the Grinch who hated the “noise, noise, noise, noise”.  But, let’s face it...unwanted noise IS a problem.  My late father loved old-fashioned clanging and bonging clocks.  There were two in the living room which could be heard throughout most of the house.  It was embarrassing to call a radio talk show from his Canton residence.  You’d have Jerry Williams saying, “Hello, you’re on the air”, as the clock suddenly “said” over WRKO, “bing BONG bing BONG!”.  The last couple of years l lived there, I slept with earplugs every night.  It was the only way I could sleep.

The wind chimes are not quite as bad as the clocks, but they’re close.
I haven’t got the heart to tell this stuff to my next door neighbors, because compared to many people in my neighborhood, they really ARE good neighbors.  BUT,  if you have wind chimes- LOSE THEM.  And, if you are thinking of buying wind chimes- don’t even think about it!

I do sound like Andy Rooney, don’t I?  Do you suppose CBS would hire me after he retires or passes on?  Well, I guess the answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind...