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Well it's late again so I'm racing the clock to get this posted before the day is over. But it is nice and quiet.
One of the things we probably all noticed during lockdown was that it was quieter. There wasn't so much traffic on the road, we weren't out and about so much and there were very few planes in the air. You could hear the birds sing.
Personally I like quiet. I can be quite happy home alone with no music playing or no TV on although I know that for some people that wouldn't work.
The one thing I have missed is having the house to myself. Although Hubby has been part retired for a while now there were still days when I was home alone and I enjoyed pottering with no one to interrupt me or need me. Once we were locked down Hubby worked from home so I've had to adjust to having him here all the time. In a way it's been good practice for when he retires at the end of this month. Except that in lockdown all his usual activities were curtailed too. No more evenings out playing his guitar with friends, or record club evenings.
When Hubby's in the house there is usually noise of some sort. He'll either have music playing or he'll be watching TV or playing his guitar. Though to be fair sometimes he does just sit and read.
Finding quiet times for me became a challenge. Sometimes I'd come down early and enjoy the quiet of the house before he stirred. Not often though as I'm not a morning person. Or I'd go out for a walk, although often he'd come too. I didn't have the heart to say I wanted to be alone but there were enough times when he didn't want to walk for me to not to go stir crazy.
But now there is less quiet as things start to return to normal. We have the grandchildren here regularly and then the house is anything but quiet. Of course I love the sounds of the toddlers and the babies. Conversations with 3 & 4 years olds are never boring. Challenging sometimes, but never boring. And the babies might not do much more than "ooo" or "arrr" but the facial expressions are just so watchable.
And when the bigger ones are tired and irritable the TV often helps for a while and that's a whole other noise. Some creators of Children's TV programmes have very strange minds.
Then of course it's time for them to go home and we can restore order in the house, close the door behind them and just enjoy ......the quiet.
I have always been one who needs some noise in the background in order for me to concentrate. I need something to shut out or my mind wanders more. Probably growing up in a house of six with younger siblings. Anyway, there is usually no quiet here because I will always have the TV on in the background. My "word" for 2021 is Quiet though, but more for a quiet heart that no noise. xo
ReplyDeleteYes, with hubby at home all the time I struggle to find some quiet too!
ReplyDeleteOnce again you have captured some of the unexpected challenges of lockdown. At some point I might write about the difficulties of lockdown but for now I would just say that my lack of time when I could just be surrounded by peace and quiet and gather my own thoughts were far too few.
ReplyDeleteI like quietness too and never turn the TV on to have a background noise. It was also unusual for me to have R around the whole day. I think it took me 2 years to get really used to it. The worst was the meals, he is so punctual ! No problem in the morning we only have coffee and not necessarily together. for lunch (at 12) we eat sandwiches, so he does his I do mine and we often watch the News and a little movie together. But otherwise we only meet for supper, during the day he does what he wants and I do what I want. So no it's not frustrating anymore. He never travels anymore but it doesn't bother him that I travel alone. Good news tomorrow he will be transferred to the rehabilitation center on the countryside !
ReplyDeleteI enjoy quietness too. That is why I love working in my garden, just the wind, nature and me.
ReplyDelete:-)
Love, Carla
It's funny how early on, I think the quietness both literally and figuratively with everything going on was so challenging and frustrating and now I feel like the noisy busyness that is starting to return has some people feeling the same frustration because we had finally gotten used to the quiet slowness.
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