There are a few places my husband and I go to hear the sounds of wind in the grass and trees. To do this, you need a spot that is very quiet, away from town and busy roads. A lot of stress and strain, the everyday problems of life and little frustrations, even times of grief and great distress can be stilled by in the whisper soft sounds of a breeze rustling through the treetops, tinkling through the long stems of wild grass.
Growing up in the mountains of Virginia, near the West Virginia line, out where no one lives, it was no problem to find a quiet place. Everywhere was quiet, the sort of silence that makes it possible to hear small sounds like a little animal foraging somewhere in the brush or the faraway cry of a hunting hawk. I guess a love for the quiet sounds got deep in me, because I find myself now seeking what maybe you could call the ‘sounds of silence’ as the old Simon and Garfunkel song described it. These sounds of this silence are noises you don’t hear unless the busyness of life is shut away so you can pay attention to what you don’t usually hear. Even some of the muted sounds are easy to identify, but a few I can’t quite explain except to say there is a sound underneath all other sounds, if that makes sense.
I asked AI about this, since it’s a hard question, something that is difficult to grasp, thinking maybe it can collect everything said about such an obscure topic. AI can be very dumb, but sometimes it can give a very good answer. So I asked it to describe these elusive sounds in the wind, a sound that is below or underneath the sound even of rustling leaves and grass. It said these are, “eolian sounds or aeolian tones,” and described them as “the sound produced when the wind blows over objects and causes friction. This friction produces sound waves, which travel through the air and can make a range of sounds. For example, wind encountering moving objects, such as leaves, can produce irregular sounds.” I have to admit that’s a pretty good answer, from a scientific point of view, but in my mind there’s more to it
The idea of something underneath the everyday sounds, even under the still sounds of the wind through the grass, is magical to me. You can feel the wind, and you can hear it, so you know it is there, but you can never see it. In a way that is like the presence of God. I believe in God. I know he is present around us, even though at times he seems distant and unreachable.. He is there, you can feel that, but you cannot see him. There’s a passage in the Bible where Elijah is searching for God that seems to relate to what I mean. It says,“ And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper.” Maybe Elijah heard the voice of God in the sounds that are next to silence.. I think there’s something profound in that.
As we move into a new year, we have to face change. Things can happen we cannot control, both good and bad. Whatever comes, I believe there is something underlying everything else that is happening. You could call it a small, quiet voice. To me, hearing the sound of the wind, not just a storm wind that is big and loud, but the soft sounds the wind can make, brings a different kind of knowledge, a quiet confidence that there is something holding still in all the rush and stress, the highs and lows, the gains and losses of life, something soft and gentle and eternal. It is in the sound of the wind through the grass and trees, just below these sounds. It is a sound like love, some deep, abiding sweetness that has been placed there for us to find when we need it, in the tall grass, in the tops of the trees and in our own souls.
Welcome 2025. May you all be blessed by the subtle sounds of love and hope in the new year.
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Diane Adams is a local journalist whose columns appear Thursdays on BrownwoodNews.com. Comments regarding her columns can be emailed to [email protected].
