Recently as I was approaching a pond while walking in DC’s National Arboretum, I was startled by a prominent, lone “boing” emanating from the bushes. It sounded almost mechanical, and at first I thought there was some device that was triggered by approaching hikers — to what purpose I couldn’t imagine. As I passed the pond, I heard the sound again and stopped. After a few moments, the boings started coming in more frequent succession, almost like an orchestra very slowly warming up. In fact, the more I listened, the more it sounded like viola strings being plucked, followed by a short glissando. Curious, I struggled to see the source of the developing symphony. Finally, there they were, periodically hopping in pursuit of one another on the muddy banks of the little pond: frogs.
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Tags: nature by Jon O
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Music infuses everything in the universe, from the rotational beat of a pulsar in space to the rhythm of the heart. Is it possible that music is the essence of the universe itself? My newly released ebook Song of Fire is a journey to discover this fundamental truth. The interconnected, real-life stories are a rhapsody on the elements that constitute how we experience the world: the moments of humor, sorrow, passion and revelation that give significance to our origins and endings. [Read more →]
After having spent my life in California, I’ve been living on the East Coast for the past year and a half. This week, walking home from work, the cold rain turned icy, producing small ice pellets that melted into wet globules on the pavement. Suddenly I was aware of an unusual sound I had never heard before. Not the gentle splashing of droplets of rain. And not the clamorous pelting of hail. No, this was a high-pitched hiss, glassy and cold, almost otherworldly. So what other kinds of frozen music does ice make? 
