Last July’s column, “Feeling Stressed Out? Listen to The Music of the Forest,” elicited more responses from readers than any other edition of The Woodsman. Several readers wrote to say that they, too, appreciate the quiet of the forest, or the music of songbirds, or the sounds of wind in the trees. Others said that they, too, had heard music produced by humans in the woods. As you may recall, I recounted a time I spent by a wilderness lake listening to someone across the lake playing a violin, playing it very well, and feeling my initial annoyance turn into what was a “virtuoso’s unexpected gift.”
One night my boys and I camped at the Salmonberry Park and Campground, a Benton County facility along the Alsea River, off of Highway 34 east of Waldport. Lovely place, with camp sites ringing a large meadow. We arrived in the late afternoon to find that we had the park to ourselves. After we explored the meadow and the river, we returned to our site for dinner. As I began preparations, an old Volkswagen van pulled into a site across the meadow. Almost as soon as the van’s side door opened, we heard music. Loud music. I was about to stomp across the meadow to demand that they turn it down, when I realized that they were playing a classic jazz tune by Billie Holiday. I did ask them to turn it down, and they did, and a conversation about jazz, camping, and fishing followed. It turned out to be another unexpected gift: both Lady Day’s music and delightful people.
Sometimes music in recreation sites is welcome. One time a young man wandered into my campsite and invited my friends and I to join him and his friends in another site for music and singing. We did. We didn’t have instruments (or know how to play them if we did), but we brought along some beer to share and had a fine evening getting to know a dozen other folks and listening to them play guitars, a banjo, and a harmonica, and we joined them around the fire pit in singing a few folk/rock songs. I usually go camping to get away from people, but this was one time when I was glad for the camaraderie. I hope we didn’t disturb anyone…