56mph

[tugrik]

That's how fast the wind is going over the house (sayeth the weather station). The house is alive with sound; creaks and groans, howling calls through the little pipes that top vents and fireplace alike. The rush of trees and driving of rain. Poor reality_fox lost his satellite dish... and ours keeps losing signal as it flex-wobbles in the wind. It's only slightly-thicker sheet metal, after all.

Something I found interesting while talking with physically-distant online friends tonight: Music can bring people together, across great distances. Shared experience in general, in fact. There's just something cool and familiar about two folks online, halfway across the planet, listening to the same piece of music and talking about it together. Even though you may feel different things and lead vastly different local lives, there's a sense of togetherness with another person or persons. Personality to personality.

At the same time -- weather separates, as do many 'local phenomena'. Talking about local-environment things suddenly points out just how far apart people are, physically. A storm can bond your local community together, from the shared-war-stories in the workplace to that "everybody is watching the news" feel. At the same time, talking to a friend far across the globe who's in sunny skies... it's just so different. Telling them about the wind, the rain, the experience of it all... it's just numbers and prose. Similarly, hearing of their bright sunny day while in the middle of your stormy night just feels terribly detached.

I think it has to do with experiences within the mind vs. experiences to the body. The former can be shared electronically (over TV, radio, internet, telephone), and have emotional attachment through distance. The later really only 'clicks' with those near and in the same situation.

Again, with the 3am musings of pointlessness, harrumf! Mind me not.

Comments

[kibbles.livejournal.com]

I love reading the musings of a mom in Australia in my friends list -- our children are days apart, and as I am struggling with snowsuits, she is writing about kiddy pools. :) Makes me smile -- I even dreamed that Lily (her little girl) had to put on a snowsuit, in the heat of Darwin, Australia!

Weird.

[perlandria.livejournal.com]

May I memory this? Your first paragraph captured the feeling of last night's storm very well.

[traveller-blues.livejournal.com]

It's also the way we report the data -- weather, natch, is nominally reported by numbers and states; music has words and melodies that weave within the words. Look at it this way:

It's easier to report the weather than to sing a song.
Going from simple to complex, saying 'It was a dark and stormy night' won't convey the feeling of the storm properly -- but as Perlandria said, you did, above.

It's possible to convert a song down to its electronic data equivlalents
'The music is now 440hz for .2 seconds, 350hz for .4 seconds, 505hz for .3 seconds', but you wouldn't ever do that on the radio.

It's all in the presentation. :)

-Traveller.

[smackjackal.livejournal.com]

I thought the wind was seriously trying to blow my house down!

[impytoes.livejournal.com]

I love the wind - storms, gusts, even tornados.

Its so frightening strong and so sensously soft and sometimes I can hear it just in the tree tops outside my house - not even touching the ground.

[pobig.livejournal.com]

Alas, it was all very attenuated and sedate in the depths of Sunnyvale. Lots of rain and a little wind, and some thunder and lightning late Saturday night.

[kiala.livejournal.com]

It was great! My first night here too ^_^