I have come upon a whimsical notion of launching a campaign in Austin wherein thousands of wind chimes would festoon neighborhoods, schools, parks, places of business, institutions and more with the goal of literally making Austin “sing”.  Can you imagine what it would sound like if the tinkle and soul lifting sounds of chimes were to ring out in a cacophony noticeable to people in the most subtle of ways?  It would be magical and unlike anything that exists any where in the world.

There is a secondary purpose to “Austin Sings” beyond an artistic pursuit.  By engendering a community wide effort to pull this off, it is my belief that neighbors will be brought together in a way that otherwise would be unlikely.  And, once this spirit takes hold, neighborhoods would begin interacting with neighborhoods to see who can create the most pleasurable and distinctive music when the wind presents itself.  In other words, such a simple device could pull people together as a real community rather than what most cities have which is tens of thousands of isolated people and families who do not interact with their neighbors or the city except for very brief events.

I know this works from something that happened in my neighborhood in San Antonio when I was a kid in the early 1960’s.  The neighborhood got together and decided to make a coordinated effort to create a palate of light during the Christmas season via Christmas lights and “luminarias”.  Each neighbor was assigned one color of Christmas light for their respective home.  And, tracing the top of every curb while lining every sidewalk and driveway, the luminarias were casting their warm glow from the candles inside white paper bags that included sand.  It was absolutely beautiful.  People from all over San Antonio were driving to our neighborhood to see the creative manifestation of the Christmas spirit.  People whose names we didn’t even know in our neighborhood now came forth to celebrate their joint creation and to marvel in the warmth of the season.

There was a second inspiration that brought about this notion.  In the trailblazing film, “Lost Horizon” (1937 version) – a movie about the mythical “Shangri-La” – there is a scene between someone who grew up in paradise with no knowledge of the harsh realities a world away and an outsider who was shanghaied to this remote part of the world.  There was always this unusual, melodic and otherworldly sound whenever Sondra (Jane Wyatt) was with Conway (Ronald Coleman) in the garden.  Turns out she had created a “little wooden flute” that she tied to the feet of her pigeons.  That’s what was making the musical but not your standard and organized melodic tones.  It is pure and whimsical and genius to create the ambiance of a magical kingdom.  They were instantly and very much in love.  It was so palpable – an example of perfection in the simplest of ideas.

I am considering a test of this project on the Hike and Bike trails wherein perhaps a couple hundred wind chimes would be hung all along the way.  Optimally, individuals and families would bring their own offering of chimes to be actually placed by Parks and Rec staff.  If the musical “conceit” works there it will work anywhere as long as a “community” joins arms in the spirit of constructing a one of a kind phenomenon in the U.S.  If it works in Austin it will work in other cities.

Everyone engaged in a peaceful and simple pursuit of spirit requiring the tiniest of effort and expenditure lasting for years to come.

Wouldn’t that be something!