Bamboo cow bells
By Judy Evans
@JudyEv (381739)
Rockingham, Australia
November 21, 2021 7:18am CST
MyLotter SS (@moonandstars) commented recently about bamboo wind chimes and I was reminded of our short time in Thailand in 1996 when we took some schoolboys to a Karen village to install a clean water supply. Everything here was made of bamboo – houses, floors, steps.
The villagers had a small number of cows which roamed freely in the area. Each wore a bamboo bell and the sound from the bells was really quite melancholy. I bought home some bamboo wind chimes but over the years they disintegrated. But I can still hear the sound of the bells.
The photo was taken in the area where we stayed.
18 people like this
19 responses
@DaddyEvil (174208)
• United States
21 Nov 21
Tourist stuff is made from fresh bamboo so it disintegrates... Bamboo over a year old is used for permanent things. Even in rain and snow it won't go to pieces on you. (We learned we couldn't make stuff from our bamboo if it was less than a year old. The bamboo would start splitting if it got wet or too warm if it wasn't properly aged.)
2 people like this
@DaddyEvil (174208)
• United States
22 Nov 21
@JudyEv I was told, but never checked, that most house construction made from bamboo was "barrel bamboo". It grows large around but short in length and can be easily split.
When I was 18, I worked in a factory that made stuff from bamboo. As we worked with it, we could tell if what we worked with had been cut when it was young as it would start splitting along it's length before we touched it.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (381739)
• Rockingham, Australia
22 Nov 21
@DaddyEvil I bought home a ging and some bamboo chimes but the bamboo was green and fresh. The ging was made with some other wood.
1 person likes this
@snowy22315 (208746)
• United States
22 Nov 21
That is so pretty...Never heard of a bamboo bell, but i guess you use what you have.
1 person likes this
@snowy22315 (208746)
• United States
22 Nov 21
@JudyEv Wow, that is interesting. Years ago I volunteered in the garden at the National Zoo in DC. Of course one of the things they grew there was bamboo for the pandas. Friend used to have a neighbor years ago he grew tons of bamboo, and he wasn't even Thai, wonder what he did with it all?
@Hannihar (130150)
• Israel
22 Nov 21
By Judy Evans
@JudyEv
I love wind chimes and when I last looked for them it was hard to find them. I use them for one of our Jewish Holidays. That is interesting that everything there is made of bamboo. I wonder what the cows thought of their bells.
1 person likes this
@wilsongoddard (7291)
• United States
21 Nov 21
That is a beautiful photo. I wonder if the area still looks like that or if, like so many areas, it has become overdeveloped.
1 person likes this
@RebeccasFarm (91299)
• United States
21 Nov 21
Oh such a lovely peaceful place..I could hear the cowbells as you I read this.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (381739)
• Rockingham, Australia
22 Nov 21
The bells made a gentle sound as the cattle walked around.
@1creekgirl (44560)
• United States
21 Nov 21
That was beautiful! Maybe you'll find some bamboo cow bells again.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (381739)
• Rockingham, Australia
22 Nov 21
We drove to the village where we stayed then, once we started work on laying a water supply, we had to hike for an hour up into the mountains.
@JamesHxstatic (29410)
• Eugene, Oregon
22 Nov 21
That was a great thing that you did. I may have to search to hear those.
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (222222)
• United States
22 Nov 21
Great photol I would like some bamboo wind chimes.
1 person likes this
@BarBaraPrz (51811)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
21 Nov 21
Lovely landscape, would be perfect for a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle.
1 person likes this
@allen0187 (59648)
• Philippines
21 Nov 21
Certainly a different sound from the metal chimes that we are used to.
1 person likes this
@choijungeun (2710)
• Hangzhou, China
21 Nov 21
I never heard of the bamboo bells,that's too faraway to me.I guess it sounds dulcet that can take us into a total natural and dreamy world
1 person likes this
@wolfgirl569 (135583)
• Marion, Ohio
21 Nov 21
Those would be different than what I am used to
1 person likes this
