Silence is golden

Right now I hear the blower on the gas fireplace. Such a sound, any constant sound soothes me and does not distract me. The sound of the dryer in the background has the same effect upon me, our refrigerator not so much because it is not constant, anything but, and I coulda shoulda read the reviews. "So loud." One review even called it "an obnoxious musical disaster." I agree. Unfortunately I read the reviews after my purchase. It was on sale. Love a sale. Luckily the refrigerator is far enough away from my bedroom, otherwise I might be tempted during my sleepless nights to blame my insomnia on its preordained misbehavior. Being around my refrigerator reminds me of being at one of my kids first year strings concerto; not good, but you have to be there when it's your kids recital, looking towards the stage with pride, occasionally looking towards another parent with a "we gotta be here" shrug. You can't leave and you accept your fate in the moment as is the case when I am near my refrigerator when it is acting all bitchy. Regarding a sleepless night, I do realize lack of sleep is due to my own mental state, my "me and my story" being out of sync, but isn't it convenient to place the blame elsewhere?

Since I am in gripe mode and you asked "what do you hear," my all time auditory pet peeve is being forced to listen to music when I am seeking silence. Anywhere. At the beach, in the park, but especially in my own back yard, my sanctuary. I cannot write, I cannot read with music playing in the background at all. I do not know if this means I just have control issues, or some type of sensory impairment, or one of the seven types of ADD, because when I went to school things were simple. Look at the blackboard, here are your books, listen to your teacher. Do your homework. Boom. Reports cards come. Have them signed. Returned. Boom. That was it. Classifications? No such thing in my day. So what if I sound ancient. A leopard has spots.

I picked up these earplugs at Wal-Mart. They are foam. They are disposable and they pretty much do the trick when my neighbor is in blast the country music mode but I find myself still distracted once I pop them in by his audacity when personal earbuds are such a thing, especially when I've been candid with him that I adore the outdoors and silence. But hey. I do realize it's a free country, with free airspace and he has the right to do what he wants on his property. But do I have to like it?

So what do I hear? Fortunately, nothing right now that gets my dander up. Are you sorry you asked?