It is now the end of the summer. I am sitting inside - there is no frost yet, but the sharp edges of the morning bite at the fingertips. Not time for gloves yet, but it's coming soon.

Vegetable and fruit vendors still set up early each morning but they are now wearing coats. There are fewer vendors than there were a few weeks ago - every week, a few more stalls disappear.

As for the soundscape, the market area is noticeably quieter than during my last visit a couple of weeks ago. The basso continuo of traffic sound is ever-present - this never changes except in intensity. The traffic sounds never totally disappear. Delivery trucks still rev their engines, but there are fewer of them today - probably because business isn't as brisk and fewer deliveries are necessary in the off-season.

Little song sparrows still chirp as they hop along the sidewalk looking for scraps of food. I can hear them more clearly and from a greater distance than a few weeks ago because it is quieter. No seagulls today. Which is surprising because they are usually here. Maybe it's too cold.

And the café in which I am now sitting in (to which I referred in my sound journal entry of May 25th) still has background music which doesn't at all match the decor.

As I sit here drinking my coffee I hear:

• ringing of coffee cups and silverware
  
• muffled, compressed sounds of the radio - loud but with a squashed dynamic range - it sounds rather lifeless
  
• coughs, contrapuntal conversations of a few café patrons - things are slowing down, it is not crowded. Individual voices can be heard clearly.
  
• Foaming hiss of a cappucino machine
  
• crumpling of paper bags
  
• closing of cash register drawer, electronic beeper of the cash register as sales are rung in
  
• jingling of coins
  

I head outdoors, where I hear:

• two street kids asking for spare change - a common phrase down here
  
• electronic back-up beeps from a delivery truck
  
• soft footsteps, steady but about 10-12 seconds apart. There is not a lot of foot traffic down here today either
  
• voices of vendors talking to the occasional customers
  
• sounds of a clothing vendor moving her table in her booth
  
• rumble of idling trucks
  
• constant traffic, but not as loud as a couple of weeks ago
  
• explosive hiss of air brakes
  
• no buskers, no music except for the occasional radio coming from a vendor's stall.
  

I am thinking of a new approach to this piece. Every other piece in Capital Resoundings take place in the summer. With the market area, I am thinking about exploring the summer, the winter and the in-between times. I think I'll make it less season-dependent. I'm not sure what kind of fall-winter sounds I am going to get, though. As activity moves inside, will the soundscape be abandoned to cars? I will have to listen to hear whether or not this approach will work. I know the summer market very well, but what about the other seasons?

There is still much more to explore here. Of all locations, this one feels the most complex and the least finished. There are subtleties and nuances that cannot be entirely comprehended in one season.

I am coming back to this location. It is not done speaking to me yet.

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