A Sudden Noise
A Plea for a Quieter World
PEOPLE AND RELATIONSHIPS
7/24/20263 min read
Silence is golden , as the song goes, and indeed it is. But it is far too rare nowadays. Noise is everywhere, be it the roar of traffic, or someone's personal music blasting forth from an open car window. Someone talking at high decibel on their mobile phone in a British railway carriage, or an aeroplane coming into land over a busy city. We just can't escape it. But moments of calm can bring rare moments of peace, such as the hush in an audience as the conductor raises his baton, or a walk amongst the mountains. That is why I appreciate our lonely homestead. For sure there are disadvantages in being miles from the shops, but the peace and calm that we experience here is worth everything.
The other day, as the air began to cool, I took my book to read up by the pool. This is the perfect place to concentrate, for here, there are no jobs to be done. No disturbances. Just time for reading and reflection. Not long after I settled down, I heard a roar. A military jet was approaching...fast. Suddenly, there it was directly above me. As it skimmed the treetops, the air seemed to explode. Then it vanished as quickly as it came , but the noise remained, reverberating around my head. I felt shell shocked. Little by little the noise in my head abated, until suddenly , I realised that silence had returned. Or so I thought. Small sounds began to intrude: a breeze stirring in the treetops: a distant thrush calling from the woods; a distant church bell ringing from the valley. Cicadas were still chirruping, but this time their call seemed slightly different, for I could discriminate between two different groups, each chant adopting a slightly different rhythm, and call. It was as if that noisy aircraft intrusion had refined my perception of the many noises that are actually there around me all the time.
Of course, military aircraft are not the only intrusion. Only recently we heard the Canadairs plying backwards and forwards as they tackled a fire. Montpellier airport is not too far away, and very occasionally we may hear a distant passenger jet if it takes a different course from usual. But there is one intrusion that is more frequent than all of these things . It is the motorbike. The road lies some distance below us, and we are normally fortunate not to hear the traffic. That is, except for motorbikes.The motorbike is different, for the riders' sole purpose would seem to be to create as much noise as possible as they roar around the bends. When they leave the village, the road is flat and straight , and they immediately build up an enormous speed. Then they begin to climb up to the top of the mountain, and with each bend they slow down and accelerate away with a joyous roar. For sure, there are speed limits, but who is there to control them? Add to that the youngsters, motorcycling wannabes, with their first motor-scooter, which seem to make the worst noise of all. When they come to play on the forest tracks we groan. But there will be peace in the long run. For one day all vehicles will have to become electric. I can't tell you what a joy it is to set off on a journey in our new EV, as we glide away in silence. Just think about it, no nasty fumes either.
When all is said and done however, life is about contrasts. How could we truly appreciate peace if we didn't also experience the opposite? I think of Carys, the heroine in my latest novel, 'Protest!' Jailed for six months for protesting, she suddenly found herself out on the frantic, noisy city streets without any forewarning. It felt so alien after the limited confines of a women's prison that she desperately, if briefly, wanted to go back. As for myself, I do find it fun to be amongst the vibrant crowds when we visit Montpellier. That said, I certainly appreciate the peace and quiet of home when I return.
