listening to my symphony

Diana Ross had it right.

I cannot be certain, but she may have been talking about Mexico when she sang "I Hear a Symphony." Because I certainly do. Every day.

Mexico is not a shrinking violet when it comes to noise. It is more like a megaphonic trumpet vine. And that is fine with me.

Every day, I am surrounding by sound. It starts early in the morning when at least three separate boom boxes or truck radios are cranked up to distortion level. I think they all play different music, but it is hard to tell through the blown-out phhht-phhht-phhht tweeters.

But, that is just part of the brew that includes the cry of chachalacas that sound like a piece of equipment about to fail, along with pieces of real equipment that are about to fail. And the loudspeakers of gas trucks, water trucks, and vendors selling everything from holy water elixir to tomatoes and pineapples. The piercing whistle of the knife sharpener is almost pleasant by comparison.

As I sit here writing in the patio, I hear them all. And yet I don't.

When I first moved to Mexico, I could hear every separate sound. And it was not pleasant. At some point over the years, it has now simply faded into the background. As if it were a national tapestry. Something that is just there. Without pausing and listening very carefully, I could not have written that list of noise sources.

But that is not always the case. Sometimes, a new sound will stand out from the others. Because it is new. Or different. Or both.

That happened today. Amongst the usual melange was something odd. Mechanical. Insistent. Almost military in its momentum. It sounded as if it might be at the hotel construction site.

Of course, I had to go investigate. And I was correct. It was at the hotel.

A cement mixer. Now, for most of you,the sight of a cement mixer is not a major event. But they are not extremely common here. Most cement is mixed on the ground.

Or, at least, I thought they were not common. On my morning walk, I saw at least two more. One at a residential site around the corner from me and another at a commercial site next to the new butcher shop.

And that got me thinking about the amount of construction that has been underway this summer in Barra de Navidad. Some residential remodeling. But quite a few new houses and businesses. 

Our little village is growing. That is a good sign for the vitality of the community. The appearance of OXXOs and Kioskos means there must be more local and tourist disposable income coming our way.

Our village has quite a few homes that have been under construction for years. I can think of two that were finally finished in a mere additional two months this summer.

And the hotel we have been watching is quickly becoming a reality. "Hotel" is probably the wrong word. I had been hoping for a hot sheets place. That is not going to happen. This is more like a set of bungalows.

The pool is almost done, and the walls of the bungalows are starting to rise. That cement mixer runs for almost twelve hours each day.

Now that I know what the new sound is, it will fade into the background along with Luis Miguel and Vincente Fernandez crooning next door.

All we need now are the percussive bursts of cohetes.

I wonder if that is what Diana Ross had in mind?