IZU- Sound Walk

November 11, 2012  

Start time: 11:30 am

My “walking meditation” took place in Long Island City, NY, specifically the neighborhood of Astoria. 

I began from Steinway Street, known for its colorful cultural shops with motifs, grocery/butchers, and restaurants mainly of the Middle Eastern and/or Islamic culture.  Car tires on pavement fill the air as does the sound of squeaky brakes. I walk pass a couple of  Middle Eastern restaurants with a few men sitting at sidewalk tables, chatting, drinking coffee or tea and smoking.  I hear an excited voice from one table expressing to his friends a story that seems to amuse them all since they all burst into laughter at once.  Some children are yelling and running in the background and I spot them across the street with their mother yelling at them.

A bus screeches to a stop to pick-up passengers.  The bus beeps as it lowers itself so that it can make itself assessable for picking-up a passenger in a wheel-chair.  I hear a car honk its horn, and like a domino effect three different car horns follow.  Car tires screech off around the bus.  I hear many conversations in many languages: English, Spanish, French, Russian, Arabic, and Hungarian to name a few.  I hear plates clatter together as a waitress gathers the dishes from a table doing brunch.  The voices from the restaurants are excited and muddled as some people are speaking with their mouths full.

I hear plastic bags from shoppers bagging their fruits and veggies.  The trains overhead rumbles as it enters the station with the conductor’s voice announcing the train stop.  I am startled when hear a small child screaming at the top of his lungs then I hear the cries silenced and notice that  the parent gives the child a cookie.  Car doors slam as I walk past a more residential area.  I hear a front door open and package is dropped to the floor. 

The sounds are becoming more spacey as I enter an area where the density of people is less.  I notice the flapping from birds’ wings and I hear the leaves rustle in the breeze.  I hear the scuffle of the feet of people walking behind me, in front of me and across the street.  The car tires on the pavement are more pronounced and I notice that each car engine has its own distinct sound.  I hear neighbors greet each other and I hear kids laughing and playing on a playground.  As I near Astoria park, the tightness and density of sounds is not only spaced out but sounds that were obnoxious are tolerable. I notice my pace of walking slow down as I near the water. 

The calming sound of the water hitting against the bridge and the water bank grounds me.