The search for silence

I love the sound of silence and am very intolerant of other peoples' noise. Sadly, like Mollie I can't have complete silence due to 3 different tinnitus sounds which plague me day and night - but I love lying in bed and hearing the wind through the trees and the sound of the waves lapping on the beach 100 yards away. The general hum of everyday life - cars, chatter, the odd aircraft overhead and children playing deadens some of my own internal sounds and is welcome and as Holly says, a visit to a big town or city soon puts one's perception of silence into perspective.

We never had TV when I was a child- and I think teaching made me adverse to noise. When I am on my own at home, I never put TV or radio on- and just like silence + birds, cow bells and the odd tractor! OH had TV as a child, and he would have TV or radio on all the time.

We don't have TV or radio on, and music only when we want to sit and listen. But we have clocks, and I love the ticking (not in the bedroom, however)
That is the only sound I need. (The seagulls drive me mad in the mornings.)

My grandfather's long case clock is in the hall, and it is a slow, measured tick. The Westminster chimes are off, however..in here there are five clocks of various ages, and one little French clock has the busiest tick ever. But I can still hear the grandfather clock in the hall.

(Theseus is a clock addict, BTW - there are also six fob watches on the bookcase behind me!)

Ariadne I like the sound of seagulls but I supose you can have too much of even a good thing!I also like clocks ticking and chiming [although we do not own any like this.]I live next to a country church, but there are only bells on Sunday morning [twice] which make visitors jump, but we are used to.Sometimes bell ringing practise, but only about once a month.Lots of cawing rooks around the tall trees that ring the churchyard though.I think that all humans need a bit of silence now and again.