TWILLIGHT  SERENADE

TWILLIGHT SERENADE

The good days in Toronto have started to trickle in, one at a time. And we Torontonians try to make the most of it, savouring each fleeting minute with relish, just like sipping a very expensive wine..

Last Sunday, June 1 was a very glorious, perfect one. The sky was cloudless, the temperature was not so hot, not so cold..Just like a a balmy day in Baguio City.

I decided to finish a project of installing outdoor speakers in our backyard deck. I made use of the existing speakers in my basement. I picked the smallest ( but good sounding pair ), enclosed them in a wooden boxes which have been in the backyard for a couple of years..Talk of weather proofing. One end was open. So I inserted the speakers in each box, then covered wthe open end with a plastic grill which I recycled from another thingy which came from my personal scrapyard..

I wired the two speakers to an old Sony amp in my basement. I found a small hole in the basement window big enough to accomodate two speaker wires..The basement window was close to the deck. So carefully I wired the two sound boxes. Spent several hours hiding the wires, placing screws where I could hang the soundboxes, going thru the rigors of trouble shooting ( why is it that when you think you are finished with the job, one speaker won't sound?)

Anyways, at the close of the day, ( aha, twillight! ) both speakers were in place, and set the sound level of the sound source ( the amp in the basement ) so it won't vex the neighbours too much. Especially when I would be playing those tagalog songs. That would really bug their ear wax off!

For starters, I tried a CD of Strauss waltzes. Blue Danube, Tales from the Vienna Woods, etc. ..Wow! It was lovely!

My friends, those little brown birds which I feed cooked rice every day, do not mind. In fact, they blend in their twittering with the mellow strings of Eugene Ormandy's Philadelphia Symphony. Nice counterpoint, little birdies!

They seem to enjoy.listening to my music as much as I enjoy listening to their mating calls. When the sun's orange orb dipped into the western horizon, I switched some Christmas lights draped on the deck's privacy screen.

Sound of music outdoors is very different from what you hear indoors even with the modern 6 channel paraphernalia..

Especially if you have a glass of wine on one hand and two feet raised on the table. Eyes closed. Think of happy thoughts like no work tommorow or any other day..

Ain't life grand?

Red arrows locate the speakers I mounted on the privacy screen of our deck..

 

a close up of the right speaker..

 

Left speaker is above the plant at the far end of the deck..

a better view

 

..and this ne too!

 

The crab apple tree with all its trimmings..Yes, its like a Christmas tree in June!

 

My job is to keep the lawn very well trimmed

 

"The apple tree, that blooms for you and me..." --the BeeGees

Night falls..Rain in the same spot a year ago..

 

A good repast is the perfect end of a perfect day...

 

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