I-99 – The Morning Porch/Patio

Monday February 04, 2019

Dave Bonta February 4, 2019

The snow has gone slushy, turning the hollow from a soundproof room into an echo chamber. Over the traffic noise, a junco’s cadenza.

Dave Bonta January 18, 2019

Between storms, the sound of traffic. Between the white ground and the white sky, fog, and the haute couture of snow coating every tree.

Dave Bonta December 20, 2018

Out before dawn, I watch Venus rising through the trees, bright as a searchlight. The distant gargle of jake brakes from the interstate.

Dave Bonta February 14, 2018

Ash-gray sky and an inversion layer making it sound as if the highway runs straight through the hollow. Above the din, a titmouse keens.

Dave Bonta January 8, 2018 2

Cold snap over, fine snow falls—accompanied by the roar of traffic, as if all noise this past week had frozen solid and now is thawing out.

Dave Bonta December 18, 2017

One degree above freezing and the hillside echoes with traffic noise. Meltwater drips from the roof, polyrhythms going in and out of sync.

Dave Bonta December 7, 2017

Cold and overcast. The wind eddies around the house, bringing first a few snowflakes, then the distant mechanical gargle of an engine brake.

Dave Bonta November 3, 2017

The traffic noise is deafening; even the crows are hard to hear. The air starts to shimmer with what Chinese call maomaoyu—fine-hair rain.

Dave Bonta September 8, 2017

Cool and almost clear. A few clouds come scudding from the same direction as the highway noise, as if themselves powered by small engines.

Dave Bonta March 24, 2017 1

Warm sun and an inversion layer bringing traffic noise from over the ridge. Cardinals and titmice compete with the whine of truck tires.