Sound Crazy

They
say looks can be deceiving and sometimes so can noises. When I
heard an unfamiliar sound coming from the back of my Jeep I
immediately assumed the worst. I pulled over to the side of the
road, opened the back of the Jeep, and dug around through an
assortment of sports equipment. Beneath someone’s left golf shoe I
found a miniature toy motorcycle with its motor running. Thank
goodness I looked before I went to the mechanic.

A similar incident happened
last summer when my grandmother searched her house for three days
for an elusive loudmouthed cricket. Before we called pest control
I put on my Sherlock Holmes coat and went to investigate. Her
cricket turned out to be a smoke detector with low batteries.

Unexpected and unexplained
noises are the worst. One night I was alone, the house was silent,
and I was working on a writing project when the computer emitted a
clear, distinct knocking sound that scared the living daylights
out of me. After my heart rate returned to normal, I clicked on a
flashing light at the bottom of the screen. One of my whiz kids
had downloaded an online communication system. The knock was to
let them know one of their friends was online.

Noise can be a good thing,
especially when it is soothing. I have an old-fashioned box fan
near my bed and year-round I sleep with it turned on. My husband
thinks I’m crazy.

"It’s 10 degrees outside
and you have a fan on!" he raves.

I’m not sure why it helps me
sleep better, but it might be because I pretend I’m at the beach
listening to the tide roll in. Or maybe it’s because it keeps me
from hearing other sounds, like the phone ringing, or the washer
and dryer. All I know is that while some of us are addicted to
noise while we’re awake, like my music-loving teenagers, I’m
addicted to fan noise while I slumber.

Sound crazy? Maybe. If beauty is in the eye of the
beholder, why can’t pleasant sounds be determined by the ear of the one who is
listening?