Madison Monday: A windy walk in February

As you’re reading this, I’m on my way to Key West, where it is not snowing. Where there is no chance of snow. Where the temperature will reach the upper 70s, and I’ll remember again what it feels like to be that warm.

But last week before I left, I took a walk on a windy day, when the temperature had climbed above freezing for a spell. Here’s what I heard:

– The low tolling of a big iron bell that hangs in a tree on 1st Street. You might mistake it for church bells at first, but it’s not.

– The dried, bright leaves still clinging to a tree branch shaking like soft maracas in the breeze.

– A styrofoam cup being blown down the middle of the street with a crowd of leaves and trash, banging like an incoherent drum.

– A crow in the tree above the sidewalk, who didn’t caw, but made a squeaking sound as if he were working his way towards human speech.

– Canadian geese caught in an argument.

– Voices floating across the river.

– The slick hiss of car tires on pavement.

– Church bells tolling the hour.