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| http://www.noisecontrol.com/news-on-noise/ |
Spring has sprung,
The grass is green,
Boom cars make me
Want to scream.
Most years of my adult life, that’s been my clever little complaint as the weather
warms up. Lovely as it is to see the end of winter, the noise level also
increases, and often in most unpleasant ways. There’re the sounds of cars with
blasting radios, mowers clipping the vast expanses of lawns, and the endless
barking of dogs. Where I live, you can add to that the roars of farm trucks
(now industrial-sized semis), heavy farm equipment, and outdoor intercoms from
the nearby high school and John Deere center. O-la!
Is it any wonder I’m grateful for my diminished ability to hear?
Over the past three winters, I’ve had increasing loss of hearing from Meniere’s Syndrome. It’s worse during the cold months due to inner ear pain. The hearing usually increases a bit as the temperatures warm and with accompanying changes in barometric pressure.
I don’t think this year I’ll be able to get back to telephone use, or spend very
much time enjoying music or movies. Restaurants with music, and other venues with ambient sound levels are also an issue. Time will tell how this impacts common activities.
“How isolating”, someone recently sympathized. But you know
what? Mostly I enjoy the lack of noise. It affords me a level of peace I don’t
get when I hear everything around me. I really enjoy the bliss of quiet. I can
still hear many things I love. For example, my husband whistling a piece of
classical music. I’d miss that, but then, I’d miss him were he gone. Loss of
hearing isn’t nearly as traumatic to me as loss of sight. I had that experience
for a very brief time after cataract surgery, when I couldn’t see well enough
for months to be able to read or paint or do any small handcraft. Oh, my. That
was like hell.
But noise? No. That I don’t miss for one second. What about
you? How do you feel about noise? What kinds do you notice? Are there certain
times noise is more obvious to you? Do leave me a comment, please!
