When it's as hot as it has been, if I go for a walk I have to choose shade, so a wander through Hirst Woods is very welcome. The big beech trees on the main avenue let little sunshine through, whereas the birch and scrub along the boundaries let the sun penetrate further. I like the effect that gives, shadow giving way to brightness beyond.
I have some new hearing aids, which I'm trying to get used to. There are a few more things I can hear (the car indicators clicking, for one) but much sounds quite 'clattery' at the moment so I wouldn't yet say I'm hearing any better. I shall persevere. They have more functions and more fine tuning is possible.
I can never hear birds (apart from the annoying wood pigeons, who keep piping: 'My toe hurts, Betty!' over and over again!) I have recently downloaded an app to my phone that listens for birds and tells you what it can hear, so that's quite interesting. This was the selection it said it heard at various times on my woodland walk:
Hearing is a strange gift...and most of us (me included) take it for granted. I found a friend who I was talking to kept saying, what did you say? She had her hearing aids in, but I remembered I have a high pitched voice that's sometimes out of range. So I didn't speak louder, but lower. My lips are a bit wonky after a surgery many years ago, so I don't know if anyone can read my lips at all. And now another tooth has broken off at the gum line, so I am trying to not smile with my mouth open. I am just falling apart, one piece at a time! So glad you've got new "ears" and I do hope that they will help.
ReplyDelete"My toe hurts, Betty" made me laugh - I'd not come across this before, but it really sounds like that, doesn't it, and it really can be annoying for its repetitiveness!
ReplyDeleteI wasn't really aware of your hearing problem, and I know from family members how tricky hearing aids can be. The right setting in one kind of enviroment may not work in a different situation, and I know at least two people who became so frustrated with their devices that they rather took them out when in company.
The birds app is a good way of finding out what is around you.