Randy

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Username:: solitaire
Name:: Randy
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Par For The Course

Life & Events > A Roaring in My Ears

A Roaring in My Ears

I moved to rural Clinton County 34 years ago for peace and quiet. I'm not a fan of noisy (and nosy) neighborhoods. Plus, I wanted my children to grow up in the "country".

Unfortunately, I didn't move quite far enough away from the highway--not quite a half mile (0.4). Another highway is 1.5 miles to the south. I do live on a paved county road.

When the winds are from the east (or south), the noise from the highways is evident. Yesterday (Sun.) was one of those days. In fact, it seems like on every weekend the wind blows from an easterly direction!

Well yesterday, there must have been a motorcycle outing somewhere. Riders were out in full force. All day long, and into the evening, the constant roar of these two wheelers pervaded my yard and house. The low rumbling noise was ever-present. (The two highways stretch over 6 miles within listening distance.)

Ordinarily, it's big semi's or loud pickups that break the silence. Or the prevailing westerlies carries the sound off in the opposite direction. I can live with infrequent truck noise. But on this Memorial Weekend, with temps flirting with 90, the cyclists are hitting the road.

Shutting myself up indoors, windows closed, radio turned up loud doesn't make the noise go away. I try not to be sensitive, or let it get on my nerves, but it does. It's very irritating.

And to top things off, my neighbor, halfway between the highway and me, spent 2 hours "target" practicing and skeet shooting! BOOM! BOOM! I kept ducking in startlement. Bang, bang, bang. He and his two sons really shattered the silence. Grrrr.

So, I'm thinking where can I go to escape the noise of the countryside? To the golf course? How about to the city?!!!!

posted on May 30, 2011 5:34 AM ()

Comments:

its getting more and more difficult to find a place where it really is quiet ( well here in Holland it is!)

comment by itsjustme on June 1, 2011 6:53 AM ()

What, more cars and fewer bicycles? I'm sure it's changed for the worse since I was there many years ago. Hope all is well with you and your family.

reply by solitaire on June 2, 2011 5:04 AM ()

I'm with you, those loud motorcycles are just flat irritating. The bikers claim loud pipes save their lives because the cars can hear them coming. I say they are arrogant jerks demanding 'look at me, I'm on a Harley.' Other brands of motorcycles don't seem to require the loud pipes to save their riders' lives, somehow they manage. Up here, those loud pipes reverberate off the rock cliffs along the highway, and we get it twice as they round the bend and the noise comes back along the river.

I think you and I probably notice it more because we know what quiet is supposed to sound like, and all those city people talking about tolerance haven't experienced the Rumble in the Rockies or its Idiocy in Indiana equivalent of show-offiness. No, you just stay mad there, it keeps your blood pumping.

comment by troutbend on May 31, 2011 8:43 AM ()

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! I probably came off angrier than I really was. But the noise IS irritating. And the older I get, the more intolerant I become. It should be the opposite, and maybe it is in some areas--but not with regard to this subject. Did you get my email from the other day?

reply by solitaire on June 1, 2011 5:03 AM ()

All weekend the people in a large rental two houses and one alley from me played their stereo from an open garage (faces my backyard about 125 feet away.) The volume was around 120 decibels. The "music" is awful. Rap. I wanted to counter with my boombox in the upstairs studio window and I though about playing nothing but Debrussey and/or Rachmaninoff. But I shut all the windows and turned up the fans.

comment by jondude on May 30, 2011 7:09 PM ()

Hurray! Somebody who sympathizes (at least empathizes) with me!!! Along with barking dogs, cats in heat, thumping of bass in a car, loud mufflers, and obnoxious neighbors, I see no reason to live in town. I should be thankful and quit complaining!! I see the light. By the way, I DID go to town for two hours (and it WAS noisy). I also walked 16 holes in silence before pooping out in the heat.

reply by solitaire on May 31, 2011 4:53 AM ()

I have to get caught up or did I missed.
What happened with the relationship with your son.
Did he ever showed up?Yes,we do get this noise at this time of the year.
But it is only temporarily.
My hearing loss count on this .Take the heaing aid off and it is peace and quiet.

comment by fredo on May 30, 2011 1:29 PM ()

See my remark to Dragonfly (Dottie). One day, I might need a hearing aid. Nothing new from my son. If he does come, it won't be 'til July. No word yet.

reply by solitaire on May 31, 2011 4:48 AM ()

I live in the city; but most residential areas are built away from the major thoroughfares. My neighborhood is very quiet.

comment by redimpala on May 30, 2011 1:28 PM ()

Still, you have dogs and lawnmowers and perhaps screaming kids on a trampoline or pool. For me, "it's always something". (Rozanne Rosannadanna) Old age, I reckon.

reply by solitaire on May 31, 2011 4:42 AM ()

Last summer my peace and quiet was annihilated by barking dogs, lawn mowers/weed whackers and backyard builders. I loaded my MP3 player with my favourite music and hummed away the rest of the summer.

comment by nittineedles on May 30, 2011 1:12 PM ()

There you go. And all those things you mentioned does irritate me!

reply by solitaire on May 31, 2011 4:39 AM ()

Maybe take a break and visit a cabin somewhere where peace and quiet will be almost certain?

comment by kristilyn3 on May 30, 2011 12:59 PM ()

Oh, I'd probably complain about the fish splashing making too much noise!!
I remember lying in a sleeping bag in the middle of nowhere listening to the "loud" jets flying overhead! It's just me.

reply by solitaire on May 31, 2011 4:38 AM ()

You may have been hearing the annual Memorial Day weekend Rolling Thunder tribute, perhaps as part of a local observance. We have one here, too. I don't mind. Don't let it bug ya. You can learn to tune it out.... Think of something else and it will disappear.

comment by marta on May 30, 2011 11:53 AM ()

Easier said than done (tuning out). But I think you're right about the "festivity". Ironically, motorcyclists often consider themselves "loners", yet they love to gather in large groups.

reply by solitaire on May 31, 2011 4:36 AM ()

It is pretty quiet where I live. We sometimes hear a siren wailing in the distance or the boys playing football at the nearby park in the evenings. I don't mind them. They are the sounds of life going on around me.

comment by dragonflyby on May 30, 2011 8:10 AM ()

Replies here indicate tolerance to extraneous noises. I guess I'm odd man out! Luckily, I'm half deaf in one ear! Otherwise, I'd really be bothered.

reply by solitaire on May 31, 2011 4:45 AM ()

We lived on a farm i/4 of a mile from a major highway. We got used to the
noise and never heard it. We never hear the noise here either unless a
siren lets loose.

Adapt my dear.

comment by elderjane on May 30, 2011 7:59 AM ()

I just like to complain. 95% of the time, it's peaceful here.

reply by solitaire on May 31, 2011 4:34 AM ()

Here I live in the middle of a big city and the noise I hear is minimal. At night I hear birds, sometimes a frog when they are mating waves lapping up against the docks, an occasional siren (usually heading here) but when I sit at The Point surrounded by Karen bay I hear nothing of the city only a couple of blocks away, very seldom hear A motorcycle let alone a posse of them--maybe it is time to leave the country so you can have peace and quiet!

comment by greatmartin on May 30, 2011 7:40 AM ()

I'm surprised you don't hear "outside" noises. Maybe you're just used to them. When I used to spend a week on Caladesi Island, off Clearwater, I could easily hear the sounds of the city across the bay. Not exactly peace and quiet.

reply by solitaire on May 31, 2011 4:32 AM ()

Apparently you are unable to shut things out. When Jay and I moved to Lower Second Avenue in NYC, the roar of traffic was major. The avenue was a conduit to other boroughs, just above the Brooklyn bridge. The semis careened down the avenue at all hours and the building shook. Our bedroom was at that end of the building. We put up heavy drapes and forgot about it. After a month or so, I never heard a thing.

comment by tealstar on May 30, 2011 6:47 AM ()

True, people get used to "trains in the night". But once it's in my mind, it's difficult for me to tune out. I fester. You're a better person than I.

reply by solitaire on May 31, 2011 4:27 AM ()

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A Roaring in My Ears