The Sound of Silence

During the Boulder Flood, after about two days, it would actually, believe it or not, stop raining once in awhile.

At these times it was extremely foggy, even at night [so no starlight, moonlight or city lights], there was no electricity [so no lights, no refrigerator compressor or furnace fan, etc.].

We were stuck for several nights in what was a big expensive, soggy, sensory deprivation chamber in the middle of nowhereswille [formerly Boulder, CO].

With many hours to contemplate, well, to contemplate just about everything one could contemplate, the alternative being Death By Boredom. There was just nothing else to do [neli likes the dark and silence and sleeps like a baby under these conditions, notwithstanding any protests she may voice to the contrary. :-)].

So, I asked myself “what do I hear?”. What does complete silence sound like?

I heard my breathing and my heartbeat, of course.

I also heard a tape hiss-like noise. An ever present white noise. I finally figured out that it was like holding a conch seashell up to one’s ear. That this must be the sound of blood pumping through or nearby the ear. There typically isn’t a seashell to reflect this noise back to the ear, as we go about our business in the world, so this noise is a lot more quiet and fairly easy to ignore most of the time.

I also heard a high-pitched whine. No, this wasn’t me wanting the electricity to go back on so I could find out what was going on out there, to see if Boulder was really still there. This is not, I do not think, tinnitus – which I get from time to time, and which, for me, is much louder and at a somewhat lower frequency. My guess is that this is the sound of the gears in my brain, and that they are running a little bit low on oil, grinding against each other enough to make this whining / squealing type noise. Or perhaps not.

And there are of course noises when one swallows. And chewing noises are, of course, one of the loudest things we ever hear. And there is sniffing, jawbone clicking/TMJ, bone joints popping, the tongue rubbing against the teeth, and probably other, even more disgusting and yet still in the end quite noisy stuff.

Considering how LOUD the sound of silence is, it is a wonder we can ever hear anything else. Like, you know, music. 😉