The Sound of Silence

This song is one I really like by Simon and Garfunkel, but my feelings about silence don't align with theirs. I get that they mean more of a lack-of-interpersonal-connection type silence, so I suppose we would agree that's not ideal. But one of my favorite parts of living alone is (usually) silence. Most people I know prefer to have background noise at least, TV or music going incessantly. I find that annoying, and one of my best traveling partners and I have that in common; she is equally comfortable sitting in silence. My youngest son and I share that too, the pleasant situation of being together but not interacting in any real way other than being near each other.

Most of you know that I talk a lot. Fortunately, I believe I also listen a lot. If there was ever I person who enjoys good conversation, I am that person. So it may seem strange that when I am at home, I prefer silence. Of course, as is often the case with what we find most compelling with people eventually becoming what we detest, there are plenty of times when I wouldn't mind some noise. I am thinking of this today because there are nine industrial floor dryers (if there's another name for them, I don't know what it is) and one industrial dehumidifier running in my not-large house, mostly in the kitchen and living room, drying up a sink leak that seeped through my wood floors while I was on vacation. (My floors are actually laminate, which makes them even more susceptible to water damage.) The mold problem is bad enough that the water damage guy is coming back on Thursday morning to start pulling up the flooring and to knock out the drywall around the leak. If there is an abundance of mold, I will have to move out of my house briefly until the problem is resolved. Best case scenario is that I will have to find somewhere to put all my furniture while all of the flooring is pulled up, but that probably won't happen this week. As I said, my home is not large, but neither is it tiny; it's just a normal-sized three-bedroom house. I do have some space that isn't being used, but probably not enough to accommodate a large sofa and a dining room set. I'm not really sure what I'll do about that.

Anyway, the roar of these machines is overwhelming, and Thursday can't arrive soon enough! "The guy" did say if it drove me crazy I could turn them off for a while. I'm going to keep them on as long as I can stand it. I'm a good sleeper, so I don't think they'll bother me in my bedroom. However, it's in the morning that I have my greatest need for silence. They may have to stay off long enough for me to enjoy a cup of coffee or two -- and revel in the peace and quiet.