The Sound of Silence

I've been reading this magazine someone gave me.  The issue is only about silence and noise. I didn't get it for review; it was actually given to me by someone after they heard I liked to write.  I thought it odd at the time, but when I think back about how many times I've handed off periodicals on a whim, it sort of makes sense.

Anyway, I've had a pink elephants experience.  You know, you never think about pink elephants until someone says, "don't think about pink elephants."  Then it's all about the pink fucking elephants, everywhere you go, there they are pumping gas and eating popcorn and balancing budgets.  Pink elephants on parade.  I realize pink elephants in litature often symbolize drunken hallucination, but humor me here, as for me, they simply mean something I don't want to think about. My sister got me a glass pink elephant when I was younger that now sits on the little angel's dresser.  I do love this analogy. 

Back to the silence. Which is not occurring now, because I'm typing, and I can hear the keys clattering away. The sound of typing never bothers me. It's like a cat purring or some other low drum.  It means someone is accomplishing something, communicating with someone, making progress somehow, and that's a comforting sound.  I don't like the sound of air conditioners and washing machines, even though they, too, are working hard.  I do like the sound of dishwashers.  I hate the sound of lawnmowers.

I'm not really sure what silence sounds like. Even though I was raised in the countryside of Iowa, I don't think I've ever really experienced silence.  People think the country is quiet, but it's not.  Sure, you don't have cars honking and the like, but the bugs and owls are really quite loud in the summer, and in the winter the sound of trees creaking or even cracking under the ice has startled me awake more than once.

As I've been reading this magazine, I've been trying to figure out what my favorite sounds are.  So far, I've come up with this:

• My daughter's laugh
• The sound of soft talking or laughter coming from the next room when I'm sleeping
• A cat purring, preferably Bella
• French horns
• Rain on copper
• Horses on cobblestones
• Fish tanks with bubblers
• Wind in tall grass or cornfields
• Lions roaring (I heard one once at the zoo, and it was sublime.)
• Baseball bats connecting with baseballs solidly
• Thunderous applause
• Silence?

My unexpected least favorite sounds (other than the obvious sounds that nobody likes, such as jackhammers):

• Dogs barking
• Babies crying
• Whining or angry voices
• The shuffle of footsteps when someone falls or runs into something
• The screech of brakes or the gunning of an engine when someone peels out
• Microwave ovens
• Bees or flies buzzing/mosquitos whining
• Feet walking on gravel
• Really anything happening on gravel, such as driving up a gravel driveway
• Car horns
• Telephones ringing
• Polite applause
• Silence?

One of the articles said that even if you're sleeping and don't wake up, your blood pressure elevates when a plane flies overhead or some other loud noise happens.  Noises can literally drive people insane when they can't be escaped. I never thought much about the impact of environmental noise on me, so I'm paying attention to it this week.

It's Friday. Take a break and clear your head. What's your favorite noise?