Sound is all around us, both delightful and bothersome. For Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge, Cee continues with her series on the senses. This week it is sense of hearing. I hope you will imagine hearing what I heard when I took these photos.

Music – the most wonderful sounds of all…

Can you hear the pure harmonies sung by these young performers?

The singing was sweet and the performers, all high school girls, were very talented.

The photo above was taken at a concert of a barbershop chorus here called The Arlingtones. They often invite high school vocal ensembles to perform a few songs. The Arlingtones also have several quartets made up of different members of the group. My brother-in-law is in one of these groups (he’s the short bald guy). Every year on February 14, he and his quartet do singing valentines. They go to businesses, homes, and senior communities – like the one that we live in! (My sister and brother-in-law live here too!) This year, they were hired to sing for a couple on a special wedding anniversary.

Can you hear the blend of men’s voices singing a love song?

The quartet sings Let Me Call You Sweetheart. As a special touch, they always give the ladies a rose.

I have seen – and heard, of course! – the Chicago Symphony Orchestra performing live at Ravinia last summer…

Do you still hear the music playing in your head during intermission?

I took this during CSO’s break – at that moment, the instruments were silent, but soon would be tuned and played once again to the crowd’s delight!

…and after the quarantine started, on closed-circuit TV in our home.

Can you hear the vigorous bowing of the cellos during Beethoven’s 9th Symphony?

There are always big crowds at Ravinia (they’ve cancelled their entire season this year 😦 ), and before gatherings of more than a few people were banned, on warm summer evenings, many performers did concerts outside – often free of charge, like this one, last July. The performer was Wynona Judd, and she did a wonderful concert of upbeat songs in a park in Elk Grove Village.

Can you hear the twang of country music sung by a woman with a big voice?

We weren’t up close but could hear perfectly well from where we were sitting with our friends. Long gone are the days when I wanted to be as close to the speakers as possible!

Besides the music, when the Wynona and her band weren’t playing, there were the sounds of the crowd.

Can you hear the cacophony of voices?

A few times during the concert, airplanes flew overhead from nearby O’Hare Airport, drowning out the music and the crowd chatter for a few moments.

Can you hear the plane’s loud whine?

An airplane taking off from O’Hare traces the trail of pink clouds overhead, which were made by an earlier jet!

Besides music, crowds and airplanes, there are the sounds of nature. When I walk outside, I don’t put on headphones and listen to music; I prefer to experience the outdoors with all my senses! Mostly what I hear these days are birds.

Can you hear the trill of the redwing blackbird and the pecking of the woodpecker?