The sounds of silence

By Terry

Shhhh… do you hear that? You don't? Concentrate. Listen a little more closely. Did you get it that time? It is, as Paul Simon would say, the Sound of Silence.

Andrew has both children off on an excursion to the petting zoo and the playground and, for the next hour and a half or so, the only sounds in my house are going to be the ones that I make and those that come through the open windows in this gorgeous day: Crows calling, lawn mowers humming, the clacking of my keyboard, "Tapestry" or "The Divine Miss M" or some other album recorded by an actual human being over 21 years of age that doesn't refer to eating my vegetables, brushing my teeth, or looking both ways before crossing the street; and an uninterrupted phone conversation. Or maybe not a phone conversation after all. I just might hoard these precious minutes, refusing to share even a few, even with my best, most amusing, friend.

For the next hour and a half, there will be no toys beeping, no insipid and repetitive soundtrack of the day's video of choice, no one calling "Mooooooooom!", no one hollering or bickering or expressing their displeasure with menu choices.

And what will I do with my ninety minutes? I just can't decide! Get through some tasks in a focused and uninterrupted way? Clean the kitchen, and sit in it for a few minutes, marveling at how my work has not been magically and instantly undone? Watch "Sex and the City" reruns? Read that book that I've almost finished? A little of each, I think.

I'm going to enjoy each quiet moment to its maximum, sure that, when my children return, accompanied by cacophony and entropy, I'll enjoy that, too.

Terry lives in Connecticut with her husband and two children.

Comments

[RobinP]

My mom took Lillianna last night and she's not coming home until tomorrow night. She will be gone 2 days and 2 nights. The are down the Cape having fun with my sister,her boyfriend and his 2 daughters. I have never had this much time to myself in 7 1/2 years. It's fun but strange. Rich and I are going out to our favorite restaurant for dinner tonight. We usually only go there once a year on our anniversary.
On the other hand,I will be racing to pick her up tomorrow night. We've never been separated this long before.

I hope you enjoyed your 90 minutes!