Farewell My Sleep, Look Forward to Your Return

          Biff and Clair arrived late Tuesday afternoon and started unloading all that they brought.  All of us were so tired by the end of the night.  Whenever I take a sleep aid I only take half a dose but chose to take the full dose as I expected there would be sounds I wasn’t accustomed to.  I was right.  Oh, my gosh.  A humidifier?  A sleep aide?  Something that vibrated with weird fairy music and rain.  I had heard the rain coming from Jaime’s room many a time as she would turn it on to drown out the roosters.  But there wasn’t the load vibrating hum or annoying music.  What was that?  And was it playing moose sounds? Or was that one of the dogs? 

         I woke up at 1:30.  I doubt I returned to sleep.  I remember getting up just after three.  I was still really tired but my knees needed to bend and the positions I had tried within the bed (in addition to the machine that in reality was quieter than the generator) I finally got up and did not return to be until almost five thirty.  It’s going to be a lllllooooonnnnggg time before I am able to get another good night’s rest.

    I did sleep better last night than on Wednesday.  The air purifier or whatever it is wasn't as loud and no stupid chimed sounds to accompany the other noises. I notice that as the sun starts to rise and other sounds are present I don't notice the sounds from next door.

What Are They Doing To My Street?

            I have noticed orange diamond shaped signs indicating construction.  At first I noticed them posted near unpaved streets figuring that perhaps they were being paved – although it seems to be an unrealistic thing at this time of the year now that I think about it.  But that is what I had thought initially.

            This morning I heard what sounded like power drill noises.  What the heck?  I didn’t even check my window.  90% of the time I look for a source to match a sound, I don’t see anything.

            I had a dentist appointment at 10:00.  It wasn’t until I left the house that I noticed the orange signs were on our street.  Why?  What are they doing?  Why are they making so much noise?

 

that's our house btw

taken from our driveway

It doesn’t appear that I got a member of the crew who dressed in a uniform much bulkier than what's shown in this illustration:

Wasted Time or Wasted Mind

I attended the webinar lecture

though my mind wasn't as present as

my body.

Not as though

I was seriously in the mood anyway

There were too many sounds drowning out

the lecture

First of all,

my instructor had a sore throat. 

He didn't quite sound like Darth Vader throughout

the entire lecture

There was no wheezing - but a lot of

deep throat

My neighbor's acoustics were going

and the sirens from fire department

started wailing loudly.

One of my classmate forgot

she had turned on her mike  and

failed to turn it off before she

attempted to discipline children

making noise in background.

My instructor finally muted her

and kept referring to the time which

made me laugh as he seemed

more anxious to finish the lecture

than I was. 

I should have left the lecture earlier

I suppose.

I really didn't get anything out of it.

From Where I Stand

          I try to keep the room cool so I can fall asleep more easily.  Last night it was cold.  I still managed to sleep.  But I felt overly warm at 3:30 this morning.  When the heat kicked on I moved into the bathroom and stood by the window until the heat shut off.  I then wrote the following:

From where I stand

I can hear the traffic

moving over I5

but I cannot see it

Even if the fog wasn't there

From where I stand

I cannot see Old Pacific Highway

I can barely see the street

where I live

From where I stand

I can hear the trains

I know the tracks were not

completely abandoned

But had never seen a train

in Myrtle Creek

until the other day

when I went to meet my friends

for coffee.

I parked between Good Dogs and

the park and I saw the train

passing the tracks where Jenna

and I have explored and

taken several pictures.

From where I stand

I somehow seem to always hear

more than I can see

Let's Get Rid of Random Already!

               

            City noises are very different from the sounds in the country.  I definitely wasn't raised in the country, but it wasn't a part of the city during the 60's either.  Mom may have thought as our newly developed neighborhood as "hick country" as even the busiest part of SLC was nothing like the quietest part of San Francisco (was there ever a quiet place in San Francisco) but I called it a town.

            We lived far enough from the city that we were not really a part of it, but close enough that we could drive to various places.  There was a 7-11 within walking distance.  It was built before any business was open 24 hours a day.  7-11 hours were from 7 in the morning until 11 at night.  I don't recall any restaurants or other establishments to walk to other than the corner gas station - but there wasn't a convenient store connected to it, so what would have been the point?

            I don't recall any specific sounds from my early childhood.  Sometimes I would hear trains in the distance or hear planes flying overhead.  Gradually the city built its way up around our little neighborhood until it was eventually swallowed up in the mass.  There were 30 - 40 food places within walking distance after I had graduated high school.  The sounds were provided by traffic flow, often barking dogs - perhaps something else.  I really don't remember.

            I had heard animal sounds (other than dogs) at Wheeler Farm.  We lived far enough that I didn't hear them constantly -  I knew roosters crowed.  I thought it was a morning thing - to let everyone know the sun was up - or what have you.  I didn't know roosters crowed ALL DAY LONG!!

In our first house in Oregon, we would often hear goats bleating and a rooster crow.  We called the rooster Random as he would go off at various times of the day.  There didn't seem to be a pattern.  We have been in our second house for almost two years now.  I don't know how long the rooster has been around, but Jenna is always first to hear it.  He'll go off at 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning.  What is up with that?

            At first I thought he might be boasting, "Oh, yea.  I just had myself another hen . . ." but just before it rained, Random was crowing like he had gone loco and WOULD NOT SHUT UP.  But again, maybe that's normal.  I don't know roosters.  Until I moved here, I hadn't heard the constant echo of their sounds.  I don't know how many roosters may live in our neighborhood.  It sounds like only one, but to my ears, he has definitely got a problem.  Perhaps to the average country folk, the sound is normal.  But I don't like it.  Put Random and my family out of his/our misery already and make some rooster stew!