On a Clear Day...

Gary Ferrington’s article “On a Clear Day I Can Hear Forever” is the one writing that really connected with me. So many of the sounds he describes I can picture vividly: the garbage truck breaking the silence early in the morning, airplanes you can hear for 10 minutes because there are no other sounds to block it out, and the faraway sounds of children playing and train whistles. It is almost nostalgic for me, as many of these sounds remind me of the sounds I would hear back home in Saint Paul.

The article basically consists of Ferrington describing the noises and sounds he can hear from his house. He writes the article in present tense, describing sounds as he hears them, using phrases like “As I write this…” Ferrington describes these noises as positive things, even ones that many would consider annoying, like the early morning garbage truck. He says that, even if they might not be the most pleasant sounds, they are still a part of his city and neighborhood, and they should be accepted for that.

As a media artist, the main thing I take away from this is that I should always try to notice everything in what I’m doing, whether it be visual or audio. There are always different sounds and images all around us, and the more aware of those we are, the better off we’ll be.