The sun: more than just a source of Vitamin D.
I’m not asking for anything special. I just want my spouse to make a commitment in the morning. A commitment to get up the first time the alarm clock goes off. Instead, he hits the snooze button five times before he finally drags himself out of bed. Since I do not need to get up until half hour after he does, his waking habits destroy my last 30 minutes of morning drowse time. Imagine wandering about peacefully on fluffy dream clouds, only to be hit by a bolt of lightning every five minutes.
Sadly, my expulsion from paradise doesn’t stop there. Later in the day when I go to the grocery store, a television is nattering away in an endless loop while I check out my purchases. The constant din is annoying. Like some insidious science fiction invasion, televisions have mysteriously crept into doctors’ offices, corporate lobbies, malls and restaurants. Their dark purpose is to stream product propaganda into the unconsenting ears of us all. Their inescapable blare is strangely reminiscent of 1984.
Equally eerie is the compulsive need people have to file cellular reports on their every move to friends. “I’m in the store now, I’m at the cash register, I’m paying the sales clerk….” Really? Do your disaffected friends need to know all that? When these callers are not screaming at their cell phones, they—Bluetooth in ear—are talking to themselves. People used to be institutionalized for that type of behavior. Now it’s mainstream.
Don’t get me started about leaf blowers, chain saws and motorcycles. My neighborhood has all three, and on a Saturday morning it sounds like the soundtrack of an amateur horror movie.
I like silence. I like hearing myself think. A day at the library or a hike in a park seem to be the only refuge for people like me. Is it asking too much to be able to go about my daily business without constantly being assaulted with ear pollution?
Fortunately, there is hope. I understand that sunspots can be very disruptive to electronic signals. According to NASA, there’s an 11-year cycle of them that will reach its peak around June of 2013. During that time period their number may increase from zero to 100 sunspots. Many people are concerned about how that type of phenomenon may affect television and cell phone transmissions. I'm not one of them.
I think we've become so accustomed to noise that we've forgotten what its like without it. Its very rare to be outside without hearing some kind of man-made noise. I'm with you Nancy. The only sounds I want to hear outside are birds chirping, rain falling, wind in the leaves, and snow crunching under my boots.I love going for a walk during a heavy snowfall when everything is all muffled and quiet.....that is,until the snowblowers come out!
ReplyDelete