April 15 was an important day for “Talking Trees:” we erected one tripod, complete with electronics, battery and solar panel; we took our first photos of the finished structure; and we had our first audience experience the installation outdoors, with the full complement of four speakers. The single tripod will be operational, in the backyard of Good Shepherd church in Decorah, through next Monday. It is timed to operate from 8 am to 8 pm. It is currently playing the “water” segment of the installation; I’ll change the segments during the week to include the frogs, insects and birds segments.

This morning, I was pleased to discover that the battery read 13.24 volts, a healthy full charge. We were fortunate to get lots of sun yesterday, and so far today (as of 10am), we have more sun. The next three days will be cloudy, so it will be interesting to note how the battery and solar panel behave.

This morning, I introduced the installation to a group of eager pre-school children who attend Kinderhaus at Good Shepherd. Being the kind of town that Decorah is, many of them have been to Seed Savers, many have solar panels and deep cycle batteries at home, and one even knew what a multimeter was!

An attentive audience listens to water sounds.

Testing the battery and showing off Bruce’s wonderful electronic wiring.

If you put your ear against the leg, you hear some cool sounds!