A Symphony of Seasonal Sounds

There's something about living in a place that juts out into the most notoriously unevenly tempered ocean on our wonderful planet. Particularly when you're not too far north for bitter cold or too far south for gentle warmth.

We hover somewhere in between. Living on such a turbulent edge of seasons and natures fell moods makes for one of those sublime perks that is Nova Scotia - the seasonal symphony sounds ones ear can attune to.

In winter it is that quick crack of water and syrup freezing under the bark of the trees as the temperature plunges downward. The woods behind our house snap and pop in a cacophony of chill, a gentle breeze tossing an undercurrent swoosh. When the snow has laid it's canopy over the land and the air is brittle as you walk, that distinctive crunch underfoot wakes you up and carries you hurriedly forward. At times when the snow is heavy and falling hard, caught between freezing rain and ice pellets, the sound against the trees is a mesmerizing

When spring descends upon the land like a warm face-towel at the end of a long red-eye flight through the night it awakens you so suddenly. As if the harsh scrubbing of winter had left the land clear to breathe and start anew. Spring rains hypnotize one to sleep, the uncurling leaves bring a sweet undercurrent of happiness in their song. Falling maple seeds spin and if you listen close, they sound of laughter. Different birds take up their songs and familiar tunes are sung of new birth and delights of the rising early worms.

As spring fades and brightens into summer come, the lap of the waves on the seashores around the province seem to calm, as if the sea were laying down it's angry concerto of the winter and spring months. The tempests and squalls will be but interludes to the pervading calm.

Summer rests hot and humid as august rolls in. The blanketing of a fog just the soft timpani of a muted drum over the land. Drops of moisture like the soft bells across the land. Ones heart is restful then, yet chuckling inside.

As autumn rolls in, the colours of the land turn into brilliant cascades of light. Accompanying this Manet's canvass is the gentle rustle and fall of leaves. In the quiet of a sun-dappled glade as one sits, the falling leaves are gentle in their sound and a sigh escapes them, promising they will return with the turn of the seasons.

Where else in the world is one surrounded by such an ever changing symphony of sounds to inspire and ignite so many emotions? No wonder so many musicians, artists and authors have found such inspiration in this province...

(Photo Credit: Dave Saunders Photography on Flickr)

The Symphonic Sounds of Winter

Winter. A word that sends shivers down the spine and the eyes to burning embers at the thought of shoveling. Perhaps so. As opposed to the other seasons it represents challenges of getting to work, driving accidents in storms, sudden freezes and thaws with black ice.

Yet there is one aspect to winters here (and most parts of Canada I'll admit) that I treasure every year as it is the equivalent of a basso note popping in a symphony - snapping sap. Should you stand outside in the quiet of the night when the temperatures crash to the chilling wee hours of the night, listen to the trees. A slight breeze will bring them on...snap! pop! thunk!

As the temperature falls, so the moisture, usually sap, freezes under the bark. as the tree moves gently to the breeze or the moisture burst under pressure of the bark, the tree snaps! In a small wood or the forest that surrounds you, as the moon rides high and the stars glitter like an audience in heaven, the snapping trees add a light hearted pop to the cool, deep nights.

It is one of natures many symphonies that draws me to Nova Scotia.