...and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?
A few nights ago I had a dream in which I was a rock star. I don't remember cheering crowds, but I do remember playing an awesome Fender Stratocaster with an adjustable 12 saddle hardtail bridge and a Maple neck with a Rosewood fingerboard.
In my dream I was playing this incredible riff, my fingers were dancing on the frets like a duck on a June bug. Faster and faster I played, scaling new heights of musical mastery while sweat flung off my brow and my wrists became cramped under the intensity of the movements. My calloused fingers flew dear friend, as a melody escaped the strings like a steam from a vintage Rambler's radiator on a 110 degree desert day.
The tune I was playing was clearly the work of genius, and as I began to wake I still had wisps of it in my mind. I think the influence for my dream may have been last weekend when we had our first service in our new church building. We are blessed to have some of Portland's most talented musicians in our midst, including guitar players Tim Ellis, Chad & Rachel Hamar, and Rob Stroup (former frontman for the Baseboard Heaters and now with the Imprints). The service was incredible not only for the music which was fantastic, but for the message as well. I had some of the songs in my mind for days and I think that precipitated the dream.
Anyway, when I woke I wondered if there had truly been music in my dream - was there something tangible or just a fig newton of my imagination? It made me think of the old question
"If a tree falls in the forest and nobody hears it, does it really make a sound?"
Well, imagine to my suprise that it does make a sound, but a different sound if somebody is nearby! According to my reliable sources (that would be, er ahem...the internet):
Apparently, when a tree is about to fall, if it senses a human nearby the biological stresses of human presence cause the cell walls in the plant to become brittle and it is the cell brittleness responsible for the familiar sound we know as that of a tree fall. The cell brittleness also has significant effects to the quality of the lumber, making it much more suitable for use in construction.
Okay then...well, we've probably all heard the noise of a tree falling, but again the miracle of science has provided us with a tape recording of a tree falling in the forest without the presence of human beings in the vicinity. Enjoy!
