We really do learn something new everyday. This morning, I ( Debb ), was delighted to learn a new word for one of my favorite sounds. The word is psithurism. Psithurism is the sound of wind in the trees and rustling of leaves. Psithurism comes from the Greek word psithuros, which means whispering.
And when you think about it, it's a perfect description of the sound. Late at night, when the wind plays through the branches of our nearby trees, it's easy to hear whispering sounds. At times, even imagine the trees gently talking, or softly calling a name. It's comforting, at least it is to me.
Different trees create different sounds too. John Muir described it this way, "Winds are advertisments of what they touch." Further, he suggested, each tree expresses itself, "singing its own song, and making its own peculiar gestures."
Now that's truly music to my ears. At the end of the video, I pronounce the word psithurism for you.
Psithurism - Tree Whispers from News and Views of Clark County on Vimeo.
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