quiet

I brought Stellae (whose full name I admit is ridiculous – RIDICULOUSLY AWESOME), the youngest of the three cats who live with me, to visit with my parents for Thanksgiving. She’s a pretty daring, almost aggressive, cat – she’s here in part to give the others a break from being pounced.

Except. It is really loud here! At home, I listen to music on purpose, or watch television on purpose, and the only background noise is appliance-generated. Here in the country, there are two whole other people making people noises, currently four dogs doing dog stuff, and usually a teevee or a computer or a phone ringing or… lots of things. The area in general may be woodsy and quiet, but the house is a buffet of unfamiliar sounds. Each of which makes Stellae jump out of her skin.

Cats are a bit like canaries [Is there some sort of aphorism about cats and canaries? Those two words seem to fit near each other, and I feel like they're connected by more than mineshafts.]. They perceive things faster than humans, and their reactions are more extreme.

In the quiet at night, Stellae is relaxed and normal. She leapt a baby gate earlier and followed me around the dark house, and is now attacking my feet under a blanket (a timeless classic of feline fun). During the day she’s jumpy and hidey. I feel like I’ve accidentally traumatized this little cat. Then she’s back to normal.

Anyhow. This isn’t intended to be a crazy cat lady post. It’s about people! She made me wonder how all this hubbub affects the humans who surround themselves with it. The last couple of times I’ve been to New York, for instance, my skin crawled with this sense of the television being on everywhere (in New York’s defense, both trips were mostly in Times Square, pretty much a giant teevee). I know everyone gets used to familiar sensations, cancels out the usual noises and smells and such. Do humans – and all animals, really – actually adapt to their buzzing environments completely? Or on some level, is it disquieting?

I appreciate the quiet of my own house more in comparison to these other places. The city around may be loud, but it’s not constant. I feel like people need that – you know, silence, space to think and rest.