The Magic Bell

On a recent walk I was passed by a man on a bicycle. I waved and said "Good Morning!' . Rather than reply, he rang the bell perched on his handlebars. It had a nice cheerful "Briing-ring-ring" sound. That got me to thinking about bicycle bells I had as a child. I remember having a bright, shiny, new one (on my used, refurbished bike) and having fun ringing it, just for the fun of ringing it. At time passed the bell eventually rusted out (our bikes were stored on the side porch, out of the weather, but not the humidity!) and the lever was hard to pull. When I could manage to pull it, the bell gave out a sort of "Bri-unk!" sound. Not pleasing at all.

Then I got to thinking about all the bells, whistles, chimes and chirps we hear today in comparison with the relatively few we heard back then.
Then: bicycle bell, school bell, doorbell, life-guard whistle, gym teacher whistle, telephone.
Now: All of those, plus elevator doors, train doors, trucks backing up, cell phones, wind chimes, digital clocks. I'm sure there are lots more. Our lives are much noisier than they used to be!

But I will always remember that shiny new bicycle bell!