The search for silence

I think it is possible to hear the silence underneath the sounds of modern day living. Sometimes anyway.

Perhaps that is being inured!

It is wonderful here in the summer - you can sit outside and all you can hear is birdsong and the occasional cow fart. This is why we stay, in spite of the fact that the house is entirely unsuitable for two old crocks. That and the view.

I'm sitting here listening to the comforting tick of a large wall clock. I turn off TV, radio as soon as a programme is finished. We have a mother and adult son next door and soon it will be BBQ and music every weekend during summer. Moan over.

I'm not either. But living in a city it's often hard to escape.

Interestingly, the church I attend is extremely close to one of the Olympic venues. During the games we had a team of volunteers who kept the church open just for silence.

We put a poster outside inviting anyone to come in for rest, silence and peace. Nothing else. It was astonishing how many visitors from all over the world came in, sat for a time and then went about their pursuits clearly refreshed.

PENGUIN I too find the ticking sound of a clock comforting, the rest of my family truly hate it--nice to know I am not alone

I too do not like the sound of a ticking clock, if I sleep in the other room, the first thin that is done is the clock off the wall and the battery out.

Mishap I'm very much the same. Very little traffic in this road and in summer when I sit outside I can hear the birds singing and the bees humming in the lavender bush and smell the perfume of my citrus trees.

I live just less than 2miles east of the M6. It was only when I went to DDs new house on an fairly busy and tightly packed estate to the west of Sheffield did I notice how quiet it was up there. The reason for this peace and quiet was just the lack of the constant Motorway tyre noise. We are never really free of that here

Our first house was less than a mile from a major interchange on the M1. It was surprising how quickly we developed selective deafness and never really noticed the noise.

I used to tut and huff about the volume of traffic on my road between 7.30am and 8.30am and then 5.30pm and 6.30pm - the sound of cars used to irritate me when sitting in the garden. Then I went to London for a few days - it put things into perspective.

I wonder if it's what you are used to, growing up. I was brought up in deepest countryside, and whilst I could cope with town living as a young newly-wed, after a few years it started to get to me and if I have to stay in a city, I have to take sleeping tablets and/or wear ear plugs.

I too am lucky enough to live in a place similar to Mishap and Galen.
One of the fist things that visitors comment on is the peace and tranquillity.

I used to live quite near to a railway line and very quickly tuned out the noise of trains passing by. I now live on a busyish road where the traffic can be heard at the front of the house, but again the traffic noise doesn't permeate my consciousness. What I can't cope with is TV/radio/music as background noise. I don't have anything switched on unless I'm actively listening to it.
I love the natural sounds I hear though; the rooks fighting for nest space in the tree opposite, the sounds of sea and river, and the wind in the trees.

The road I live on is quite busy but I have put in good double glazing which helps to shut out the noise. We had a quiet cul de sac in our Norfolk village but the peace was often shattered by low-flying jets from the nearby RAF and American bases.

Cow bells and tractors - I can live with that

I have lived near a railway station (steam trains!) in a suburb and in a noisy area. In each case I was able to tune out the particular noise but hear anything unusual no matter how slight the noise. Now we live where the only sounds are nature and if the wind is in the right direction a distant neighbour's wind chimes. I love living in the peace and quiet and won't go back to anywhere with noise.

I have tinnitus so am bombarded by white noise the whole time. I do notice almost total silence (apart from the tinnitus) when we go on holiday into the countryside and are miles away from a town or a major road - bliss. Can't imagine what life must have been like hundreds of years ago - now we have things buzzing and bleeping and whizzing and whirring at us all the time. And I see that last week there were complaints that the new quieter F1 engines weren't noisy enough! So next race they'll be deliberately louder!

Unecessary noise!! Like the horrible man downstairs to me giving huge belches several times a day, caused no doubt by the 2 litre bottles of cider he consumes regularly. Plus he has a dog called "Boo," whom he calls out to 20-30 times a day. I suppose it could be worse, at least it is quiet during the evenings, I think he is crashed out!!

mollie that is so "boys' toys" isn't it, about the F1 engines.

We live very close to a railway line and like ga, we only notice the trains when somebody else points them out.

We lived alongside a busy A road for seven years and I hated the noise. I slept in a small back bedroom which helped a bit but when we moved back to the farm I rejoiced in the peace and quiet. There's something about the sound of distant church bells accompanied by a tractor working in an adjacent field.

I love sitting in silence with my old wall clock ticking (and chiming!) and the sound of sirens from the police station and fire station just up the road!

Mishap, just read this thread and have to say the image of you and Mr M sitting in garden chairs being serenaded by farting cows has made me chuckle. Love it!

We moved from the SE of England which was busy and noisy - but we were a busy and noisy family at the time - so it seemed to fit the bill somewhat. Then we moved to this part of France, where it is very, very quiet & calm. At first I found it unnerving, but after a couple of years the silence became the most marvellous gift, and now it's as necessary to me as breathing. It is one of the reasons we've decided to stay here after all.

I do miss, at times, the buzz and energy of city living, but I can get that in short bursts, knowing I have this here.

Certainly my tolerance to noise has diminished considerably.