At 4:30am on 26 December 2006, the night stars were just beginning to give way to the faint glow of dawn in a wildlife blind (hide) overlooking Inkwe Pan, a popular water hole in the Madikwe Game Reserve, South Africa. The bubbling kassina frogs (Kassina senegalensis), weary from a long night of courtship, are finally beginning to wind down, although even at this long hour they manage to maintain their well-organized synchronized call-and-response chorus across the pond. In the distance, woodpeckers, geese, flies, and a host of other creatures, large and small, are beginning to stir.
{Inkwe Pan, a little later in the morning}
If everyone in the world could hear these sounds at the same time, perhaps there would be peace on earth. I am listening to Inkwe Park right now; preceded by Sounds from Singing Beach and one other whose name I cannot recall. I am in an altered and more peaceful state from having listened to the earth in this way…….it is so much easier for us to see the earth than to hear her. If ever the notion of the healing power of sound ever attracted me, I am now 100% convinced. In just a few minutes my whole anxious, striving persona is at peace with myself. How I would like to meet you Mr. Bullitt and to introduce my grandchildren to you and your work. In the not too distant future we will visit the MIT Earth Dome. In the meantime, I will return to the earth again thru cyberspace and will wake and fall asleep to the new Earth Sound CD. Thank you from my whole heart for this gift of sounds , for this reawakening of my own essence. More later, Cecilia
@Cecilia: Thank you for those heartfelt and encouraging words.
One clarification: my “Deep Earth Dome” sound installation is not at MIT, but in my art studio a few miles away. I haven’t worked at MIT since the 1980’s. But you’re welcome to come to the studio for a visit — just let me know when you’re ready!