(This pic represents about where I was sitting)
It is peaceful. It's not silent, but it's peaceful. It was a cacophony of quiet. The very oxymoronic quality of this amused me. Cacophony of quiet, that is EXACTLY what it was.
There is no place on this Earth where you can go and have it be completely silent. There may be manmade soundproof chambers, sure, but outside of that.
Additionally, since, there are degrees of "quiet", a cacophony seems a fitting modifier. So a cacophony of quiet isn't as odd as it would seem.
Anyway, the sounds of various insects and birds inundated the air. Far from quiet but it was peaceful. We all deal with the cacophony of silence in some respect. Granted, yours may not be the sound of insects and birds if you live in an urban setting, but then you get used to tuning out those noises that are "normal". When I visit folks that live in such areas, I am always amazed at how many sirens I hear (fire, ambulance, police, etc). The people living there have learned to tune it out.
That is their cacophony of quiet, but my cacophony of noise. I reckon I'm just a country mouse. ; )
Another example of what you get used to and tend to ignore -- in the morning before Dad gets up, it's quiet, no TV, no guttural noises, nothing but ... quiet! Yeah, the doors and windows are always open so you can hear the "bitrds and the bees" and such ...
anyhow, I was doing something in the kitchen and didn't want the fan blowing cool damp morning air in on me, so I shut it off. That fan runs 24/7 drawing cooler air into the house. I never realized how "loud" it is. When that shut off it was much quieter. It's amazing what you get used to.
I hope wherever you are, you have your own cacophony of quiet and have tuned out the cacophony of noise. .
3 comments:
That's an interesting observation, Ed. Here, in recent years we have added the constant croaking of multiple bullfrogs in the backyard pond!
Some years back, I happened across a radio show discussing this phenomenon. They called it a "soundscape". I can't recall who was putting it on, but it centered on a guy who made a lifelong venture of recording the sounds of nature. They made the point that the quality of the habitat is demonstrated by the soundscape produced. As you listen more, take note how it changes as the day progresses. From early morning through mid-day, into the evening, and at night, the sounds are as different as the lighting. The soundscape changes as the year cycles through, also, as component sounds come and go.
I find it relaxing to immerse myself and mentally isolate as many individual sound sources as my mind allows at the time. Unfortunately, I rarely make a point to specifically take the time to go and do this, as this offers a reprieve from the pressures of life, a great form of therapy.
If cooling the house is indeed the goal, I think you'll find that it will help immensely to only have the fan on when the air outside is in fact cooler than the indoor air. During the summer weather, this is true at night and early morning. As the day gets under way, it soon gets hotter outside than in. It is at that point at which the cool night air in the house should be closed in. The house will remain cooler than the outdoors until some point in the early night when the slowly rising house temperature meets the falling outdoor temperature. It is at this point when a couple of windows should be reopened and fan started to bring in another bunch of cool night air.
It also works better to have the fan blow the hot inside air out, and placed as near the ceiling as possible, in the uppermost part of the house.
Stay cool!
soundscape ... i like that. yes i have noticed changes in the sounds being produced throughout the day. and you are correct, sir, it is quite peacefully therapeutic.
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