The Bells, the Bells!
When The Beard and I first moved into our little house, I remember waking up to the sound of a summer breeze blowing through our next door neighbor’s wind chime. It was a gorgeous day, and the tinkling of tiny bells just added to the ambiance. Even though our home was filled with unopened boxes and half-painted walls, those ringing chimes spoke to the beautiful life we were going to have.
Cut to me trying to work on some very, very hot summer days with the dingle-dangle of that dang wind chime clanking away in my ears for hours. It wasn’t quite as beautiful then! In fact, it was downright annoying.
The thing about wind chimes and bells is that as much as you or I might adore the sound of them, our neighbors might prefer to listen to the wind rushing through the trees or even silence. I always feel a bit wary of hanging anything outside my home that is going to make noise, simply because I know how I respond to unwanted sounds… and, hint, grinning and bearing it is not my way. On the other hand, maybe everyone who objects to chimes and bells that ring-a-ding-ding at a reasonable volume should just chill the heck out. What say you?
I know tinkly metal chimes are pretty annoying, but I am always love the sound of big mellow bamboo chimes. Their sound doesn’t tend to carry as far either, so they are a little more moderate in terms of neighbor-botherance.
When you said your house was full of “unopened oxes” — it made me kind of giggle a bit. The visual it conjured was … interesting.
Angela: Those are my favorite chimes, too, and you’re right about their being more mellow and less loud.
Tracy: The B on my keyboard sticks… but I do like the visual!
The big bamboo chimes are definitely a better bet. Or even the metal ones are fine if they’re large and lower-pitched. It’s the tiny, tinkly, high-pitched ones that don’t really do it for me.
I love windchimes, but wouldn’t inflict them on neighbors.
I did not, however, have any problems inflicting the belt sander on the neighbors whose dogs yapped incessantly at me (and whose poop fragrance drifted into my open windows on hot days because my neighbors wouldn’t scoop their back yard) and who stayed up talking late on work nights and even later on weekends on their back deck. Did I mention I used to get up at 5? And that I started the belt sander at 7 a.m. on Sat because. Well, because?
Did I also mention that my neighbors wouldn’t share in the cost of building the fence between our two houses — the fence I had built specifically because of their nasty dogs and their constant noise? They “couldn’t afford it.” Yeah. I guess not. Not after they’d paid to have that enormous deck built in the back yard. The one where they made all that noise.
Doorbell chimes have become very customizable. You can choose your favorite tunes as the tone of the chime much like you can customize a cellphone ringtone.
Um, thanks, Kathleen. I wasn’t aware of that…