Quiet.
There are different types of quiet.
There’s the quiet all mothers know…the kind that tells you
the kids are up to something.
There’s also the quiet in town. I don’t always notice it,
but even at its most quiet, the city has noise. Cars on the road. Music. Trains.
Sirens. A dog barking. Something. There’s always something. I tune it out most of the time, but it's always there.
I notice the lack out here in the country. It's a quiet that is deeper and softer. Oh,
there are still background noises. Birds—specifically my Cooper’s Hawks. The rustle
of leaves as the neighborhood squirrels run through the woods. The
neighbor-down-the-road’s dog. And occasionally, a car. We’re set back quite a
way from the road, but I still can hear a car now and then.
That country quiet is balm. It soothes me.
I came out this morning and started the fire. While the cottage
warmed up, I split more kindling for my next visit and brought in more wood.
Then I took a long walk down our dirt road. I normally walk through my woods,
but during hunting season I take walks through my “neighborhood.” You get a
different feeling walking down the road than driving down it. Someone threw an empty can out. I grumbled
as I picked it up. But then I got back to enjoying the scenery. Up the road a
bit, there were a bunch of deer tracks. They obviously went from the woods
across the road to my woods. I heard my hawks from the treetops. I wondered if
they’re staying the winter or migrating farther south. Now that it's fall, the quiet is...quieter. The frogs aren't making any noise down at the pond. It feels as if a lot of the birds and animals have started to huddle down as the weather cools.
When I went back to the cottage, I got to work in front of the woodstove and the only sound I heard was the occasional pop of the wood. It was a lovely day.
I shot a quick tour of the downstairs for you. The stonewall if finished. Every stone came from our property. I love that. Just like all the tongue-and-groove on the wall came from the mill down the road. We're taking buying local seriously. LOL
Hope you find a moment of quiet soon!
Holly
PS I started that new bio of Louise Dickinson Rich today. I was happy to have my "lunch buddy" back.
