Sounds of Silence


Now that I am back, I think I’m going to miss the silence the most. No sirens, no idiots on micro-bikes, no revving engines no bus air breaks, the cross walks didn’t chirp and there wasn’t a single car stereo doctored to make my windows shake. If someone drove past your house they greeted you with their actual voice instead of their car horn.

This year we had a phone as a special guest star and that was a little intrusive like all special guest stars inevitably are. There wasn’t supposed to be a phone, there hadn’t been a phone in years but suddenly, there was a phone and every time it rang (seven times) we jumped. It was also the only phone number in the world that was not listed on the do not call list. It was a little off putting that all these strangers knew my phone number and I didn’t. I don’t like not knowing my own phone number. It also didn’t ring like a phone so it was twice as intrusive as a regular phone. It was living with a microwave with a dial tone.

Three weeks and not a single siren or honking horn. The thwocking of the coast guard helicopter was intrusive but it was looking for potential bodies so it was intrusive in an interesting, potentially gossipy kind of way and it’s not like you hear thwocking a lot, well maybe you do, perhaps you are haunted by thwocking maybe for you it’s nothing day after day but thwocking, thwocking, thwocking morning noon and night and you are soothed siren song of sirens. I don’t know how that could possibly be or where you live to be surrounded by thwocks, but where I am, I hear more sirens than I do thwocks. I for one would welcome the occasional thwock if it would mean a break from the sirens.

Oh, occasionally there would be a clank or bang from the ore dock but that happened maybe once a day and it seemed to happen at just about the moment you might start wondering of there was somewhere you could adjust the audio. I spend several hours wandering in the forest and the loudest thing I would heard was an angry chipmunk. Real pains in the ass, bitch, bitch, bitch. Total drama queens.

One day on the beach, it was warm, the water was completely still and there was almost no wind. I sat on the beach with my book and it was like wearing very expensive noise-damping earphones without the embarrassing earphone hair or the fact that people will see you sitting in public wearing large noise damping earphones. I understand why people wear those on planes but doesn’t it just sort of say to your seat mate Hi. I assume you are going to be annoying and intrusive, even if by chance you are not, I don’t even want to listen to you breath.. Ipods also allow you to ignore the world but at least it says Hi. I’m listening to music instead of you not I would rather listen to nothing than listen to you.

It’s a fine point.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO  TINY E!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR TINY EEEEE!!!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!!

2 YEARS OLD TODAY!!