Quietness

Today I had the opportunity to stay home to wait the notorious 10 - 2 delivery time for a new dryer. Doggie number 2 has also had an intestinal problem that necessitated a complete disinfecting mop of the kitchen and dining room. Work was calling and I was monitoring emails. I had a bit of a cleaning bug which is very unusual for me, so I tried to make the most of it... Number 1 child off to high school, Husbeast off to work, and young master Snow caught the big yellow limo, so by 8:30 I had a rare and most precious encounter with.....quietness.

Windows were open, dogs were in the kennel, no tv, no ipod, no radio, no family around. Do you know how delightfully wonderful that was? I purposed then to have quietness as long as I could on this day. I sat at the computer for a bit to work email.....sounds???? nothing, nada, just the noise of the home sitting still. A few clothes needed folding....it was so quiet you could hear the crackle of the line dried clothes as they were folded.

My favorite thing to do with quietness is to knit. For a short while, I sat in the freshly cleaned and mopped kitchen, back door open, sun beaming into the room on my chair at the cozy table. The knitting needles had a steady peaceful click and the yarn was obediently silent has it formed into loop after loop. I was wonderfully overwhelmed by how much I enjoyed the nothingness, the stillness, the simple noises of the squirrels and birds dancing around the oak trees in the back.. A few car noises zoomed by but even today they were a dainty part of the quietness.

Now, it's 6:45pm, Family has been home since around 3. TV was automatically turned on, in 2 rooms. Teenagers were giggling or antagonizing each other and dogs returned from the kennel. There was clicking, clanking, shouting, and a LOUD hum of activity. The quietness was fully lost when the new dryer announced "EEENNNN!,, I'm done!"