Sounds of the City

So, I grew up in Philadelphia. That's a big city right? Well, it never prepared me for the size of the city we live in now. (But then I did grow up in NE Philly- not down town). The shear number of people out walking at any given moment just boggles my mind sometimes. There is so much going on that I often feel like I'm in sensory overload. I almost daily have to ask the children to speak louder as we walk to and from school because I can't hear them above the traffic (cars and people). Then there are the sales clerks in the store fronts that we pass on the way to school. They have their mega phones, loud speakers and radios blaring in hopes of catching your attention and drawing you in to their store. As we step onto campus the volume dies down considerably and we're able to hear the birds tweet, the roosters crow (is that what roosters do?- and I still can not figure out where someone hides a rooster in the middle of the city- I have yet to see the noisy fellow), and the never failing comments, "Look, that foreign lady has THREE children. Oh my!!! Aw, look how cute they are...". One of my most memorable moments... was when I finally figured out where the ice cream truck sounds were coming from. From early September on I could hear the song "Jingle Bells" playing on some type of vehicle in the vicinity. I never saw an ice cream truck but I always kept an eye out. About two months later when going to pick the kids up from school I saw the culprit... it was a large street cleaner with a tough looking driver in the front seat. I think I laughed out loud when I saw it. I was anticipating some cute little truck with a smiling face behind the front wheel. I giggled to think of what my husband would have said if he were told that he had to drive the street cleaning truck with Jingle Bells playing all day as he drove around town. It is always an adventure here!