Most of my adult life I have been a backpacker - I have a strong need to get away from man made noise and retreat and rejuvenate with the sounds of nature. Yet even in my beloved Adirondack Park which is six million acres - bigger than Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Great Smokeys, Yellowstone, and Glacier National Parks combined, it can be difficult to fully escape noise pollution.
This video made me a little sad.
The extinction rate for quiet places far exceeds the extinction rate for species.
When will we ever learn?
I hope you are able to find one square inch of silence in your life. Some place where there are no fees to enter, no gates that close at night, just wilderness and the promise of quiet, soul filling refreshment.
Happy Mother Earth Day.
What a wonderful wish for us all! Silence is so rare; and a priceless treasure.
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I wonder if identifying this place has now ruined it much like what happened to Tirrell Pond.
ReplyDeleteI so wish we got it more... I was commenting the other day how new office buildings go up when others across the street sit vacant. Green spaces are becoming smaller all the time.
ReplyDeleteWe have a quiet place in Trelawnyd
ReplyDeletePeace x
A piece of silence.
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Thank you.
That documentary is based on a book, One Square Inch of Silence by Gordon Hempton. I literally had it in my hands today. Damn. Would have bought it for you if I'd thought you'd have wanted it. Sorry! That's what I get for not reading blogs early!
ReplyDeleteI am finding myself wanting to get further in to the natural world. We'll see if I can manage it. I will say, that I was often able to find only natural sounds when hiking in Sedona. The nature of the land there makes it difficult to drive too far in, resulting in quiet.
I was at a wound center last week (infected stitch...FUN!) and one of the women in the waiting room kept asking that the television be turned up louder. After she was called back to the tending room, the nurse turned it back down and she and I commented that silence was a part of our lives that we just crave at this point. When I was recovering from my mastectomy, I never turned the TV or radio on during the day and Bing thought that so odd. I adore the sounds of silence.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if my comments are showing up here or not? Perhaps they are just not approved yet!
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