Karen Foley
Lynn Raye Harris
Ellen Hartman
Diana Holquist
Samantha Hunter
Shirley Jump
Dee Tenorio
Jeannie Watt
Noise
According to Mirriam-Webster, the etymology of the word noise is Middle English, from Anglo-French, disturbance, noise, from Latin nausea." That last one made sense to me. Sometimes I like noise. I love the sounds of other people around, in cities, down on the street, or the many pleasant noises I can think of. In the last two days, however, noise has been the enemy as I try to quiet my mind and work through a writing stall.
Monday morning, a neighbor decided to rev his broken motorcycle at 6am for 20 minutes until I could do nothing but get up, and was exhausted all day. Yesterday, as I sat, trying to have one clear thought, people in a house out in back of us had several small kids in a pool, and all of them seemed to alternate having tantrums, and then the adults would yell at them to stop.
The motorcycle incident was luckily not repeated. The backyard noise was quelled by closing the windows and turning on the AC, which I resent in small part because I love summer, and hate being closed up, but at least it was quiet and I could think again. It also got me some bonus points with dh, who likes the AC, and the cooler house allowed me to use the oven to bake a cake.
So, in the quiet, words started coming and ideas formed again. Thank you.
But it just made me think how comforting some noises are -- the voices of people we love, the falling of rain, the wash of waves on the beach. The crackling of fire, birds singing, the whap-whap-whap of the dogs wagging their tail against the floor.
And how awful other noises can be. I used to enjoy, when I lived in an apartment, the footfall of other people walking around, though I did not enjoy someone turning their stereo up so loud the windows shook. What is that? How can people think that's okay?
Unfortunately, in an ever-crowded world, it's hard to get away from noise. We have noticed a definite increase in noise around our house in the last 5 years. Planes fly lower, police and hospital helicopters, and neighbors who seem to think we want to hear their yelling, or their music, or whatever. People forget how to be quiet in a noisy world, I think.
In a spontaneous internet search, I found this, the Noise Pollution Clearinghouse -- their motto: "Good neighbors keep their noise to themselves." I think we need to print out flyers and leave them on windshields.
It also occurs to me how little noise we hear in books -- do we have our characters hear noises? General noises, specific noises? Maybe this is the attraction of reading, it's quiet.
Anyway, right now it's quiet except for the tapping of keys and the hum of the AC. This is good. What noises drive you crazy, and which ones do you love?
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Noise
Great post, Sam. Our neighbors have a small dog that they let out very early on the weekends, and she yaps non-stop the entire time. The people across the street have a landscaping service come every Saturday morning, around 7 a.m., and they park in front of our house, off-load their monster mowing machines, weed-whackers, and leaf-blowers and sometimes it sounds like they're right there in my bedroom. So...between the dog and the landscapers, I never sleep in on Saturday mornings in the summer.
I do love the sound of rain on the skylights over my bed. I love the sound of the water sloshing against the shore, and even the sound of the boat knocking gently against the docks. I love the sound of my kids laughing, especially when it's about something they're reading.
Thanks :)
I like the sound of lawn mowers -- in the distance. Right outside your window would be awful. We have a few restaurants close by, and it used to be that the dumpster guys would come by at like 4am to empty them with that truck that lifts up the dumpster, tips it, and then slams it back down again -- must have been a lot of complaints because now they come later in the morning.
As much as I love my dogs (who are quiet, on average. The are inside with us, or outside with us, and so they rarely bark unless someone comes to the door, etc), I do hate when people leave their dogs outside, and the poor dog is just barking incessantly -- I usually call the animal warden. That's pet abuse as well as being aggravating.
Sam
I am extremely aural. I
I am extremely aural. I remember many conversations verbatim (which creeps a lot of people out--one boyfriend said I have photographic hearing). I listen to TV rather than watch it much of the time. I also get distracted by sounds. I can't have music on when I write (except jazz and then it has to be all instrumental--if there are lyrics, they force their way to the front of my brain). We have a generator, which makes a constant hum, and I prefer to write with it off, too--thank goodness for battery powered laptops.
Speaking of hum, I still hear the Nevada equivalent of the Taos hum. (When I was in Taos last spring, I heard no hum, lol). I'm the only one in the family that hears it, and I think it may have something to do with either the neighbor's generator (a half mile away), or perhaps one of the big watering pivots down in the valley. Low, droning mechanical hum that changes rhythmically, like a machine gearing down. Sometimes I'll actually walk into an area where it's louder and then I can step back and be "out" of the sound, step forward and be "in" it. Very odd.
Me, too
You and I talked about the hum, when a year or so ago in Syracuse, we had a factory that was doing something that gave off a very low vibration whirring noise, usually at night, sometimes in the day, and it literally made me physically ill a few times. (They have since formed a citizen group in protest, and the noise was taken care of -- the factory was very cooperative, actually).
I am very sensitive to noise, hence this post. Even music is noise to me unless it's music I like when I want to hear it (which isn't all that often, actually). I can always tell when something is off with the car, or most mechanical objects, by the noises they make -- sometimes subtle ones even Mike can't hear.
Depending on my mood, some noise, even loud ones, can fall the background -- others, not. Always interesting how that happens. We have an automotive place nearby and they work on cars all day, and I barely hear it....
Sam
Noisy people...
I'm all for quiet, myself. I once had my son and another boy in the back of the car and we were just rolling along happily when the boy said, "You're the quietest family I know."
I took it as a compliment.
I never listen to music. Don't own a single CD and lost my iPod ages ago (don't tell my family).
We have cats, not dogs. Love the silence of a cat on the radiator, occasionally winking.
But the worst noise of all in my opinion....SNORING!!!! (Hi, honey!)
Great post, Sam.
Cats and Dogs
And finally! another person who rarely if ever listens to music. Me, either. If it weren't for Mike enjoying music, I would probably almost never listen. We have an iPod only because he uses it.
LOL I like quiet, too. Though for me, it's the kids who usually seem to make the racket. God... sometimes it's all I can stand to be around them for too long, the ones in our family, as much as I like them.
Our dogs, in any case, are very quiet. It's because they are with us most of the time. I think dogs, left alone, outdoors, etc will bark -- they want attention, or to be with their people, etc. But in general, dogs are as quiet as cats when well cared for.
Speaking of radiators, I kind of miss them... I used to love the hissing and clunking of steam heat...
LOL on snoring -- most of the time we don't have a problem with that, but once in a while... man. My parents used to snore so loudly, both of them, that it just wasn't even funny...
Sam
So interesting!
Good sounds or ones I don't mind--the dryer, my kids laughing together about something, the quiet of the family working away industriously on something...
Sounds I can't stand--whining, complaining, arguing (unfortunately these have been happening a lot lately); the sounds of the vacuum cleaner on its last legs; the squeak of undercooked green beans against one's teeth, although that's partly the sensation as well as the sound...
I prefer to work in quiet though--my husband likes music, but I find it distracting when I'm trying to get something done. Maybe that's why I like reading so much--it *is* quiet :)
love the work buzz...
When people all work in the same space... when we go out, like we are planning today, to work in Panera or at the B&N, that's when it's the best -- when you get a bunch of folks all working.
Except when someone has to have cell phone conversations too loudly, or then you get the teenagers who come in and have to talk at mega-volumes. Ugh.
But I prefer to work in quiet, too, or amid a nice work crowd where the buzz is strong...
Sam
Sound
I love certain sounds. I come from a highly sensitive aural family. Certain high-pitched sounds drive me batty but others can't hear it. I went to the audiologist because I thought I was going deaf but as it turns out, my hearing level was simply reduced to normal due to the aging process. LOL!
Sounds I love...melodic, haunting piano pieces; the giggle and coo of a baby; rain; the wind through the pines; my husband's laugh.
Sounds I hate...high-pitched whine of a motorized toy car that our neighbor plays with in the street; arguing & yelling; mumbling or worse, an adult who talks like a baby; the slamming of a door; my daughter's ear-shattering scream when she's fighting with her brothers.
My neighbor has a very
My neighbor has a very annoying alarm on a car he very seldon drives. Anything with a diesel engine will set it off and it takes forever to shut off. It went off at 5 am last week. Grrrrrr.
Noise
We have something in common with hospital helicopters flying low overhead. I am within a two block radius of both a children's hospital and a regular hospital which use life flight helicopters and also ambulances. The flight path of the helicopters is right over my house so that sometimes I can feel the vibrations of the noise. The ambulances come within a block of me depending on the direction they are going.
Another major noise distraction is the people across the street who spend most of their time at home in the front yard screeching at each other and there are at least five cars there which means doors being slammed and the teens racing the motors (and I feel they are just trying to see who can make the most noise).
Car Alarms
I live in the city and I'm used to hearing traffic at all times of the day, but I still can't stand when car alarms go off. I love the sound/music of the ice cream truck.
Noise
Sam, We moved to the mountains 10 years ago. It was so quiet, and very peaceful. Back then, we didn't have any next door neighbors. About 6 years ago, a couple from a big city, bought the property next to us.
They decided it would be a good idea to purchase about 2 dozen goats, and several dozen chickens and roosters.
That ended our quiet days and nights. The roosters wake us up at 4AM. When they finally quiet down(after sundown), the goats start their bawling. I guess it wouldn't be so bad except, sounds in the mountains echo twice as loud. This is about the only noise that really drives me crazy. Most common loud noises don't really bother me.
The sounds that I love the most are, the winter wind whipping through the trees( as long as I'm inside a warm house listening to it),except for this year, the sound of a summer rain storm is very relaxing to me, and of course, since I'm definitely a beach person, the sound of waves washing ashore on the beach.
I hope everyone can find some quiet time, to enjoy doing whatever it is that they enjoy doing in quiet peaceful surroundings. Sam, I hope you find the quiet you need, whenever you need it.
Noyes
Hail to the Redskins!
No, thats not a spelling error, that's my maiden name, lol. Maybe its growing up near a major international airport (Dulles) and my college dorm being on a major interstate (81) noise never bothered me. I also have a naturally loud voice, comes with the family and working with the elderly. My family complained that I made a lot of noise getting up early in the morning when they were trying to sleep in. I married a man who sleeps through just about anything. But, if you're a light sleeper, I'm not a great roommate to have. :)
My dog barks at anything, and I try to be sensitive to the neighbors. She'll bark to come in, and I try to get her in as soon as she barks. She's also learned this and in the summer when the windows and doors are open, will just wimper, knowing I'll hear her and bring her in.
I can shut things out when I need to concentrate, and when I worked on a dialysis unit, had a co-worker who would complain that I wasn't listening when she talked to me. Finally figured out that she ALWAYS talked to me when I was making calculations for a patients times and needed to concentrate. This particular nurse was difficult to work with and I ended up transferring to another unit. My dh complains I get too absorbed in a book and shut everything out. (he really complains when he wants me to listen to him.)
As for characters and noise, I don't really get too caught up in that detail. It would be too distracting for me. I just read a scene where the heroine was in a bar. I imagined the bar and presumed the noise was part of it, but never let it distract me from the scene. I never "heard" the background noise, just the conversation between the heroine and the other characters.
4 kids + 1 MIL = a very loud week
I think I may have lost a bit of my hearing this week. There is only 3 of us in our house and we're kinda quiet. My SIL has 3 kids and a very loud husband. Everyone in the house tries to out-loud one-another to get their point across. My MIL feels the need to talk to anyone within visual range of her. My head hurts.
We like our quiet. We like our solitude.
If you've ever seen the movie THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH, my BIL is the Awful Din. He generates noise.
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