The Beginning of Summer 立夏

I was wrong when I said that, of the four seasons, it is autumn alone which is heard before it is seen. For summer also arrives in the sound of the frogs singing 蛙始鳴…. in the poetic tradition it arrives in the song of the cuckoo! And in the fragrance of the perfumed winds of late May.

Following 蛙始鳴 Frogs Start Singing (5/6-10) is Worms Come Forth 蚯蚓出 Mimizu izuru… Liza Dalby, who has a soft spot for worms, writes in in East Wind Melts Ice that in the haiku tradition there is a convention that worms also could sing: “a soft, sad ji-i-i emanating from somewhere in the grass…” Like people gathering to hear the sound of lotus flowers blooming in great pops! the imaginary soundscapes of singing snails and worms really is the magic of the world.

Maybe because my eyesight is growing weaker lately, or maybe it was the sudden quiet of Covid, but all of a sudden I have come to cherish the music of the world around me—so often I think of summer nights in Japan—not of the sights but the sounds. The plum rain or the chorus of the frogs—and later the cicadas.

Last month, I read a beautiful book on soundscapes called, THE SOUND OF HOME: SONOROUS DESERT BY KIM HAINES-EITZEN—here is my review in the Rumpus and also a Dreaming in Japanese post about the book.

In Pasadena, mornings are still starting at 4am with the California Towhee starts chirping chirping very loudly–only to be outdone by a few lingering peacocks shrieks (by Easter their shrieking is mainly at night) with the Bewick's Wren chiming in beautifully. This trio is EXTREMELY loud waking us each morning around 4am.

Daytime into evening is the nonstop loud rattling sound of the Orange Crowned Warblers (I did manage to capture a sight in our backyard using callback).

The feeders are becoming frenzied. I think mating season is turning into nesting season…. In addition the the usual, Junkos, House Sparrows, California Towhees, House Finches, and the occasional woodpecker, we are seeing HUGE band-tailed pigeons, a massive crow, scrub jays (at the feeders) and Oak Titmouses.

Gone are the White Crowned Sparrows

Local Ephemera

Cactus Wren at Bonneli

Babies at Bolsa Chica

According to these pages, by this time last year or the year before we had baby peacocks–but I have not seen any chicks yet this year despite having a peacock party regularly visiting our backyard so this is something I want to try and figure out.

Substack:

蛙始鳴 Frogs Start Singing