I'm a person who likes silence. Or maybe I should make that natural sounds - I can hear birds chirping outside of my window, and that is nice. I don't play music very often when I am working on my classes, gardening or cleaning the house, and the sound of the television annoys me when I am not in the room. I tolerate NPR because Bob likes it and he is not a person to be disturbed by music, television or radio (in fact he prefers to have it on), but I never have the radio on when he isn't home. I just can't stand the sound of all the chattering, even when it is a program I like - it distracts me too much from my own thoughts.

Today I was thinking how much I hate it when I hear a plane fly over. It is a noise that really bugs me, and sometimes I even feel a little afraid, like it is going to crash into my house.

I knew a guy in college who lived near the airport, either JFK or LaGuardia, can't remember which. He said you had to be insane to live there, and that after many years in their house, his parents WERE crazy. Shouting, and always on edge. I don't think the fear of having a plane crash in your neighborhood is what he meant, more the deafening noise and constant rattling of the house. Luckily I don't hear planes fly over very often, but even at that, it is an irritating sound when it happens.

On the other hand, I just heard the train go by, and that doesn't bother me a bit. It's an almost romantic sound, the whistle blows as it rushes through the village, it is historic. I am not close enough to the tracks for my house to rattle, the way they do on Main Street. Probably if I lived down there, I would not like it as much. But I still doubt it would annoy me as much as the airplane sound.