This is a noisy world. Even outside the clatter and chaos of urban life, there is modern noise. Planes fly overhead, telephones still ring, cars whiz by. Living near lakes and such adds the sound of boats and personal water craft, enormously loud conveyances that blot out the other sounds and the sp ecial silences of water that are so beautiful. Noise is a relative term, couched in culture and personal experience. What I consider to be noise can be the epitome of symphonic sound to another. But there is something that we all can agree on and that is the difference between sound and hearing. What do I hear in a crowded room or watching TV? What do I hear while attending to a lecture or the news being read on radio or TV? Some of what I hear is by choice, that is, what am I listening for. There is the sound that we hear but to which we don’t attend. And there we add another layer of complexity, the difference between hearing and listening. Of course we are parsing vocabulary, a semantic discussion, but for anyone, what we hear and what we listen to is different not only between individuals but by any one individual. This is where culture and experience provide the filters. What do I tune out? What am I listening for? Noise is what I call the overlay of useless or barely useful sound. In a crowded restaurant with poor acoustics, sound interferes with your conversation … the useless sounds of others conversations, etc. obscures the meaningful sounds of your attempted conversation. Noise is also the ambient sounds of daily life that can and does overlay other sounds. Lawn mowers eliminate attention to bird song, the wind in trees, the joyful sound of children playing. Noise is also the mountain of business that life brings, that veils purpose, muddies the direction of your days and if you are especially unlucky, it creeps into your mind as you attempt to find sleep, reminding you of things undone or things that were done wrong. I bought a thin book some months ago entitled “The Way of Silence.” Some of the verbiage a bit abstruse but the basic message is that we can find treasure in seeking silence, sometimes the silence of a quiet place, sometimes the silence that happens when we turn off the noise in our heads, the noises created by what is extraneous. We can separate ourselves from what a transactional culture is selling us, what worries have overlaid peace of mind. We can find the peace in who we are and come closer to the rhythm of the life that is all around us. We can hear the bird song, appreciate the subtle sounds of wild places or a quiet kitchen…a loveliness that was always there behind the noise. Most recently New York state has acknowledged the intrusion of noise in our schools made by the ubiquitous and seemingly necessary attention demanded by mobile devices, phones. Turning off the phones during the school day has been a success not only from the point of view of the staff but even the students find their days more meaningful as students and friends. Human interaction has replaced blue tooth. I am an urban princess, born and bred in Brooklyn. The sounds of the city are normal for me. Air that is spiced with the aromas of buses and automobiles is typical. The sounds of the Narrows, big throaty basso boat horns are songs of my youth, but … I spent time in the country. It was that time that spoiled me, made that part of me that longs for the loud silence of nature. When I can, I seek the bright silence of my porch in early morning, or the woodland silence on a slow walk through Baltimore Woods, or the silence that music brings, capturing that part of me that resonates to its magic … a few hours listening for the truth under the noise. Ann Ferro is a mother, a grandmother and a retired social studies teacher. While still figuring out what she wants to be when she grows up, she lives in Marcellus with lots of books, a spouse and a large orange cat.   ...read more read less