“Sound of Silence”

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I didn’t watch the leaders debate last night.

I didn’t have enough pairs of shoes to throw at the telly!

No, not true, actually - I don’t have a TV.

I went outside instead to look at this volcanic dust cloud.

It’s just a smokescreen they’re throwing up to distract us from the real issues, I thought.

Someone in one of the papers said we could expect some fantastic sunsets and sunrises as the light catches the dust particles. They are supposed to be like little glass beads.

Well the sun sank behind Winter Hill last night, rose again this morning from behind Cliveden, and I saw nothing spectacular. But I will tell you what is spectaclar - the skies overhead have been free of aircraft. Not since 11th Sept (9/11) have all the aircraft been grounded. The silence was amazing.

“Sound of Silence”

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I love this song. It scores equally with “Bridge over Troubled Waters” as my favourite Simon & Garfunkel song. Simon when interviewed, admitted there was no profoundly deep meaning to the lyrics when he wrote them. He said he was possibly expressing teenage angst and frustration as to how they are largely ignored by society.

So nothing changes, except that those that are now ignored, includes virtually everybody.

In the garden this morning, without those pilots going through their ‘landing procedures’ - without passengers ’remaining seated and securing seat belts’ - you could have heard a tadpole fart.

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Hazel joined me to count the tadpoles.

I could hear the trickle of water as one pond overflowed into the next - so soothing.

But did you know that 'water sounds', supposedly so effective at soothing the human ear, only works if you can see the source of the sound. If the source of the sound, like fountain, is out of sight and next to your office, it’s annoying.

If it is audible from your bedroom, like a dripping bathroom tap, it drives you crazy.

A certain Mr Kang has conducted Europe-wide research on water noise. (what a drip).

In England and the rest of northern Europe, nearly 90 per cent of us liked it. But in Italy, that dropped to 20 per cent. Why? Because the Italians have so many fountains in residential areas, they can’t escape it.

However, in some apartments in Berne, men are not allowed to urinate standing up after 10pm — nor women either, for that matter!

Imagine living in an apartment with a wall that thin. I’d have to permanently wear ear plugs.

Actually, talking of earplugs, I do use them when punching music. I also read that sales of earplugs have been rising steadily over the years, and sales of noise-cancelling headphones are booming.

The threshold at which people get annoyed by noise is 65 decibels but in many parts of cities that level is now exceeded.

“A place of silence must be closely held secret or, it will be invaded by noise.”

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The garden at sunrise this morning.

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