07152009 One Square Inch of Silence
Maine is beautiful in summer, and I'm lucky to have a friend who invites me up for a long weekends each year. It is a wonderful departure from New York City, a loud, dirty place that I love. But even lovers need a little space, a little time apart.
Early in the morning at the water’s edge in Maine, I listen to birds, small waves cresting onto the shore, and the drone of boat motors dropping lobster traps.
I enjoy all those sounds. Even with my eyes closed, I find the sound of a passing boat pleasant. I imagine the people on the boat smiling, wind in their hair, cutting through dark water. But it occurred to me that even all the way up in Maine, surrounded by trees and babbling brooks and mosquitoes, it was difficult to escape the sound of machines. If a boat was not creating a wake, a plane was flying overhead or a car was zipping down a road behind a row of trees. All of it still pleasant compared to the city I love.
When I got back to New York, I mentioned this to a friend who sent me the link to the fascinating video above. Gordon Hempton went on a quest to find some peace and quiet and wrote a book about what he found, which was a lot of noise. He says natural silence is our nation's fastest-disappearing resource.
Even so, those foggy mornings in Maine are special, engines and all.
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Reader Comments (3)
some lovers need a lot of time apart
Good stuff.
I had missed this! 5 stars for sure.. I thought the same thing when K.T. and I hiked a trail in the NC mountians. In a distance I could hear traffic from the town below. The best place we sat was next to the river. The roar of the water rushing by totally erased any sounds of machinery. Too me the mountians and with thier waterfalls and rivers, provide the most peaceful places I have found.