Mull Of Kintyre

Ask five different people why sounds appear to carry further at night and you'll likely get five different answers. Air temperature, humidity, lack of visual acuity in the dark leads to better hearing capability, air density...the list goes on.

The speed of sound is one of the physical constants we count on. Sound level decreases at a rate proportional to the inverse square of the distance from the sound source. Let's say you're listening to the radio. If you double the distance between you and the radio, the sound will be one-quarter as loud as it was before you moved. Whether or not you could hear it during the day, the sound from your refrigerator was still there. At night it has less to compete with in terms of background noise. Sounds that are drowned out during the day are much clearer at night.

Fewer cars passing by, less airplane traffic, kids no longer playing outside...all these and many more result in a quieter neighborhood. As I was reading in bed the other night, the silence was interrupted three times.

First was the squawking of seagulls as they passed over our house. Barely noticeable to most of our neighbors, seagulls are still a novelty for us. It has been nearly twenty years since we lived in a place with more than a small handful of seagulls, so listening to them is still a treat.

Second was the deep whistle of a train, followed by the low rumble of the engines and dozens of cars. The tracks hug the coastline in this area, reminding me of the many times I rode the Coast Starlight between Davis and Santa Barbara, sleeping and waking over and over as the train started and stopped, looking out into the ever-shifting view of dark skies and clusters of stars.

Third was a lone bagpipe. This was the sound that actually got me out of bed to open the bathroom window and listen closer. The piper serenaded the neighborhood with the sounds of the highlands for about fifteen or so minutes. I wish whomever it was had gone on longer, but it was a wonderful concert despite its brevity. I have yet to find the piper or hear from them again. Fortunately I won't be without live bagpipe music for long, as the 50th Annual Bellingham Scottish Highland Games is coming soon.

The Scottish Great Highland Bagpipe and Irish uilleann pipes have the greatest international visibility, but bagpipes of many different types come from different regions throughout Europe, Northern Africa, the Persian Gulf, and the area of the Caucasus Mountains. All produce an unusual sound, one that is impossible to ignore.

I can not explain my attraction to the drone and skirl of the bagpipe, as I know they are not for everyone. I may not know why, but I don't question that to me, the pipes, the pipes they are a calling.