Morning Sounds

Lily in the morning sun...

I use lots of photos to share my farm stories but as I sat milking Bella this morning I turned on my "listening ears". There are so many sounds around a barn in the morning. I mentally made a list of the sounds I heard so I could share them with you.

It takes me about 5 minutes to milk Bella and these are the sounds I heard during that time:

• First and foremost the rhythmic squirting of milk into my milk pail.
• Bella munching her feed.
• The other goats pushing and shoving over who has the most feed in their trough.
  
• The twitter of two barn swallows discussing their nest overhead.
• The sound of a barn cat sharpening his toenails on the old wooden gate.
• The sound of the bassets and Tucker scuffling in the grass.
• The breeze blowing through the big oak behind the barn.
• A limb from the same big oak scraping on the edge of the tin roof.
  
• The guineas chirping and waiting for some corn.
  
• The twirp, twirp, twirp of the young geese talking to one another
• The cheaping of young chicks.
• The cluck of hens waiting for their feed
• The louder rooster clucks of Red and Pumpkin deciding who will "rule the roost" for the day.
• Far away I can hear a lawn mower
  
• The motor of a barge on the river nearly 5 miles away as a crow flies.
• Flies, always flies, it's a barn!
• The many, many purple martins who have called their babies from the martin house. I love the sound they make when the sky is full of them and they are going about their socializing in the early morning.
• Then I hear a voice, no two voices, and I look to see two little boys in their underwear, standing on the front porch, yelling, "Momma, we want some breakfast!"

Take a few moments to close your eyes and enjoy the sounds in your life.