At night, as I drift to sleep, I listen to the air purifier sending out waves of air stripped of allergens like dust and pollen or even mold. It’s a constant gardener of the environment we breathe and a calming noise I can count on.  Just audible but not that any words are understood is Star Trek: Deep Space Nine streaming in the living room. In between the sounds, silent prayers waft through my heart and my mind finally reboots.

Battling sleep apnea is no small feat. Besides the sound of a gasp or two, I wake to sounds of birds like house finches, the yellow breasted flycatcher, or Mr. Robin, as I call him, pulling a worm or two from the watered yard. Lately giving homes to feral born young cats blesses my wake up with a purr on my shoulder or a cold nose to my nose. Then the faint meow.  Even the steepest depression can’t keep me in my bed when God’s creatures call. Out my back door I look for paths from the SLV Cats Alive construction of a blue-tarp-covered cat condo. I’m glad to be part of their rescue. These creatures add their life and sounds to my life.

There are times that I think I may hear a jet breaking the sound barrier at any moment and realize I miss that rumbling that parts sounds high above us. That is the sound I remember from my public-school years. Sitting on my deck on a clear warm day with blue skies openly greeting the eyes, I sometimes hear that familiar sound. Looking up, I see the clouded stream following a jet possibly from the Air Force Academy over the San Juan Mountains from the Valley. For a minute, I’m reminded that some people don’t appreciate that machinery sound but to me it’s the stand-out sound of my early life.  Of course, the sounds culminated every year in the open house at the air base: new and aged aircrafts, uniformed pilots waving, then the Blue Angels flying like acrobatic metal birds.

I laugh out loud when my dog places his tennis ball at my feet, then steps back and digs at the rug with the muffled growl and continues until I grab the ball and throw it. I laugh even more when I hear children laugh and remember how I’d laugh when my son in his high chair started giggling while applesauce was dripping off his tray. Hearing my other dog howl greetings at friends popping-in also makes me laugh and love how she warms the soundscape of my life.

Life is a journey of sounds, if we think about it, and mine is rich with rumbles, chirps, meows, howls and growls to giggle by.

—Nelda Curtiss is a retired college professor who enjoys writing and fine arts. Contact her at [email protected]