Noise Pollution Solutions
I’m looking for an escape to a temperature-controlled, silent cave where the perfect coffee blend is readily available. Sounds reasonable, right?
You’ll notice a slightly different look to the newsletter this week. I transferred my list to Substack for a couple of reasons. But don’t worry. You don’t have to do anything. Just wanted you to know about the change. The weekly newsletter you receive from me on Fridays will remain free. I do want to let you know I’ll also be offering a longer essay once a month to those who sign up for a paid subscription to support my work.
Every neighborhood has a guy who starts mowing at 8:01 a.m. on Saturday. He’s convinced that if he doesn’t knock out his lawn by 8:38, he’ll be behind schedule. Besides, he reasons, everyone should be out of bed by 8:01 anyway. Don’t they have their own to-do lists to tackle?
What if my to-do list involves rest though? And what if I want/need to avoid noise to get said rest?
I don’t know when I first started becoming overly sensitive to noise. I only know that my sensitivity toward it is as heightened as its ever been.
Maybe it was when I lived at my previous house and someone who lived a block away owned a dog that barked all day long and I wanted to pull my hair out.
Or maybe it was when I moved to my current neighborhood and started hearing motorcycles racing up and down a major thoroughfare — three blocks away — at all hours of the day and night.
Or maybe it was when I began noticing loud talkers in restaurants a few years ago who do often end up providing anecdotes for my writing, but I could still do without it.
I could list a handful of other possible reasons, but none of them really matter. I now know I have to protect myself from all the noise.
Noise-canceling headphones mixed with a white-noise app have been so helpful. I set it to airplane cabin mode and disappear.
Silencing notifications on my phone is a great option too. Even though it means I miss some calls and texts. I decided I had to do that one day when I received six calls from different numbers within a couple of hours asking for someone named Charles.
Sneaking away to quiet places helps as well.
My favorite coffee shop, Scooters, has a location less than a mile from my house. Depending on the time of day, it’s a good option.
An even better one is the library. It, too, is close to my house. The only drawback is that they don’t have a coffee shop inside. How is a person supposed to be productive without coffee? I know, first-world problems, right?
It’s a bit of a drive, but Village Inn restaurant is a great hideout. For $3.00, you get a quiet atmosphere, bottomless coffee by the pot, and comfy seating for wall huggers (people who need to sit near an outlet). It’s as close to perfect as I’m going to get.
So, in summary, I’m looking for an escape to a temperature-controlled, silent cave where the perfect coffee blend is readily available. Sounds reasonable, right?
Here are some tidbits you might find interesting this week:
This thru-hiker memorized the book of Philippians during his journey on the Appalachian Trail last year.
"If you believe in a God who controls the big things, you have to believe in a God who controls the little things. It is we, of course, to whom things look 'little' or 'big.'" -Elisabeth Elliot
This is so good: We Are Not Monarchs by Erin Loechner
We could all benefit from reading this by James Magruder: Take the Unpaved Road (to find out who you are and what you love doing).
“There are times when solitude is better than society, and silence is wiser than speech. We should be better Christians if we were more alone, waiting upon God, and gathering through meditation on His Word spiritual strength for labour in his service.” -Charles Spurgeon
Have a great weekend!
Lee Warren
Lee, your new blog looks nice. It would be helpful if you would tell us more about the new arrangement, especially the price tag, while we're still outside of the subscription section.
God's blessings on your Memorial Day weekend.
In Christ,
Mary