Paul had a recent post about the constant noise he experienced in New York City. I relate. In my area its riding lawn mowers, leaf blowers, grass trimmers, trash truck, train whistle ( a mile away), sirens, loud stereos, Harley’s, etc. Some people seem to enjoy making the noise and for others it’s a way to make a living. For me I have enough noise in my head without all the external noise. Yesterday was an extremely noisy day as they are tearing up the parking lot across the ponds so machinery have been in operation all day. Tearing up asphalt makes a lot of noise! Maybe I need to move to the country.
My escape are trips to local nature areas, the mountains or some dirt road on the eastern plains. Basically out of town. This past weekend I took a drive to the Riverbend Nature area. This area is on the edge of the city limits so I can still hear some of noise, but it is the reprieve I needed. The clouds were putting on a beautiful show and helped cool things down while the setting sun make for some nice light and shadows. As I worked my way back to the truck a few rain drops added to my enjoyment. And, I was not the only one who needed to get out to the nature areas.
8 Comments
John
Love the “Clouds up North” image, Monte. Noise is prevalent and hard to escape these days, but when you do, it’s worth luxuriating in the feeling it produces. I know I do.
Monte Stevens
Thanks, John. They are beautiful.
Tom Dills
Noise is very hard to get away from, Monte, as you know. I think a lot of people just can’t stand silence.
The light in all three of these photographs is wonderful.
Monte Stevens
I have family members and friends who are uncomfortable with silence, avoiding it at all costs. Much of western society is that way, training us from birth. While flying I remember seeing parents with children under one sitting on a parents lap, wearing headsets and viewing a video on an ipad. No interaction between them. Not sure I did a better job as I let my children spend too much of thier lives sitting in front of a television. And, yes I enjoyed the light that evening.
Monte Stevens
By the way, on my way for coffee this morning I saw this same couple and thier dogs in Old Town.
Cedric Canard
I’m finding I am becoming much more sensitive to noise as I get older, especially traffic and construction. Many years ago I was on Mt Shasta in California. There was more snow than I’d ever seen. I was cross-country skiing and at one point I stopped and just listened. To say the silence was deafening is the only way I can put it. I have yet to hear such silence again. I stood there for quite some time, trying to discern a noise, any noise. The air was perfectly still and the silence was starting to feel eerie. Finally, I realised I could, in fact, hear something. For a few minutes I tried to work out the source of this sound, and then it hit me. I was hearing my own pulse in my ears. Quite a weird experience.
Monte Stevens
I’ve always enjoyed those experiences in nature. Had the same thing happen to me last year on The Colorado Plateau. The desert can really feel eerie. They are Wow experiences to me.
Paul
Great post, Monte. Getting out to a place that’s completely silent is quite an experience and, quite frankly, at first a little bit unsettling. There have been a few times when I’ve been in locations that were absolutely silent, save for the sound of the wind as it moved past my ears.
Like Cedric, I seem to be getting a bit more sensitive to sound as I get older. When Tony comes home, I make him use headphones because I can’t really stand the beat of the bass throbbing through the house. “Turn down that racket!” – Now I can understand why my parents said the same thing.
That’s some beautiful light there in Late Afternoon Sunlight.