I love the sound of crickets. Most of the time, that is the only sound i could hear in the middle of most nights since I am such “an owl” until now. I often pay attention to most sounds around me. Sometimes it could be an invincible sound since I am such an over-thinker. Well that depends. Crickets’ sound always reminds me of Tokwan’s house. When we slept there last time (when tok & tokwan were alive), it was the only fond sound that I could remember the most. Tok will lit up a tall kerosene lamps and placed it on floor in the middle of the hall. She then burned the tip of a mosquito coil and placed it beside our sleeping mat. Before turning off the main lamp, we will hang mosquito net around so that no one will get bitten. And the rest of the night was just the sound of crickets - singing.
Other than that, I love the sound of fire burning dry leaves and twigs. The small fire popping sound once in a while makes me feel like I was a kid again. Oh I love playing with fire or anything related to fire. The flames, the embers, the heat, i just adore them all. When we went back to Tokwan’s house, my sister (sometimes my cousins) and I often swept almost all of the dry leaves and twigs and small branches. The sole purpose of this “hardworking act” was just to play with fire without being scolded by those adults. Lol. Of course it worked every single time. Even when we went back to Nenek’s house, my late grandfather always swept dry leaves too around the graveyard. Yes, the house is just beside an old graveyard. Again, a chance to play with fire that we could never say no to. Haha.
Another sound that I love is the sound of the beach waves and the breeze. When I was doing my degree, my place was not far from the beach. So almost every week, a quick trip there was a must. Sometimes during weekends, my friends and I went to the neighbouring state to enjoy another beach sounds with different views. Even growing up, my parents always took us to the beach. Abah will dive in shallow area and my siblings and I will sit on his back. He can really hold his breath for quite some time. And then mak will feed us with whatever food she prepared for our picnic. I miss those since i couldn’t even remember when was the last time we went picnic by the beach together.
So yeah, sounds always make me think of some specific situations. Those were just some of the examples that I could think of now.
Do you often relate your memories with sounds?
