noon

we have ourselves a very nice noon siren here in arkville. as far as we can tell, it wails for a minute right at noon on saturdays and weekdays, resting on sundays. there are plenty of forms of speculation as to why small towns have noon whistles or sirens but because ours sits right on top of the volunteer fire station i can see from the living room window, i'm going to toss out the idea that it's the same siren that calls the firemen to a fire and that its noon howling is some sort of practice, keeping the town sure always that the siren is working and keeping folks aware of what it sounds like when there's something wrong.

we also have a small dachshund who, much to the chagrin of the sweetie, has never paid much attention to the noon siren. you see, when the sweetie was a child he had a longsuffering dachshund named sammy, a dog who survived falls downstairs, a rattlesnake bite and the dangerous childhoods of two boys some might have called a bit wild. and this dog sammy was a howler. hounds in general are howlers, bayers, animals with keen ears and a strong desire to communicate over great lonely distances, to say, "i can hear you and i am here." so the sweetie and the small brown dog have been practicing because evidently this dog's interest in communication has lately been limited to barking. barking is not the same as howling at all. it is short, sharp, not so sustained. the sound doesn't carry as far as a howl because there's no need. it is more "i can bite you because i am right here." not the same at all.

the sweetie has faith that all hounds howl and so when the noon siren begins the sweetie begins. howling. pitched high to match the siren and the likely sound of a low dog with a small chest cavity. and the small dog begins. he is unsure at first, barks a bit, then flings his head back and lets loose the most pitiful, most plaintive cry in the world. the siren howls. the sweetie howls. the dog howls. for a full minute those three voices declare the most important thing. i am here. i am here. i am here.