Soundwalk: Crown Heights

Taking a walk around the neighborhood

My clunky boots are a lot noisier than I realized. Don't drag your heels I tell myself. My first distraction; the public elementary school across the street. The kids are getting out and filing onto buses. The ambient chatter gives way to squeals and shrieks. I can focus my listening to pick out a single conversation. A mom walking her daughter home, they are discussing dinner. When a school bus door closes with a screech and the rumbling engine starts the ambient chatter is drowned out. Turning from the school I walk through I side gate into Brower Park. Rolling wheels rush by as a group of boys skateboard through the mini skate park. One falls with a thud, I turn around concerned but there's only laughter from him and his friends. My feet crunch over leaves, a sound of fall. A breeze flows through the trees and makes a slight rustle. Shuffling around the the park on a path, all these sounds once again start to meld together and create a rich background noise; a beautiful fall day in Crown Heights.