Spent a week in the mountains outside of Cusco, Peru. Lived a year in a home on the edge of a provincial park in Calgary, AB. Both places were notable for the quiet. I remember the night of the first Big Snow in Calgary. My children were sleeping, lights all off. I stood by the window overlooking the park and breathed in the muffled silence. It was glorious. The first night we moved back to Texas we woke up to police sirens, trains, and church bells, all within a 10 minute interval.
Calgary and Cusco! Gosh I hope I get to experience both. It's funny with the sounds of the city, some of them are charming in their own right (trains and church bells!) but silence is such a different gift.
Another piece so well conceived and expressed. Tangible, emotional and once again, thought provoking: "what are really seeking". So glad you found your "spot", your haven that allows you to explore your mind and share what you find.
I am already aware that I couldn't live there but that is why I love reading your excellent writing...living vicariously is the way to do it!!
I live in the suburbs of DC but there are a fair number of places I can hike where you wouldn't know that the "capital of the free world" is a few miles away. I was at one of my favorites on Friday....all trees, birds, chipmunks, and insects...until some dude on a bike with his phone blasting "Highway to Hell" came down the trail! I often wonder what the animals think of us making all that noise for no reason.
Lol, I too wonder what the animals are thinking. I was watching a dog training video the other day that was saying why verbal-only commands can sometimes fall flat because our animals hear us talking *all day* and that really stuck with me. A real noisy species!
Well written thanks. Worth pointing out that a few hundred or so years ago all of our ancestors lived this way and going back further would have been shocked and surprised to be granted the luxury of this kind of life. That we should go back to the advantages of this life today isn’t surprising.it’s where we’ve come from and are now returning to. The artificial world of digital convenience and imposed social control is dying of it’s own weight. I would suggest however that the building of a structure designed to function as passive solar might be easier and smarter. Passive solar out of logs? Sure.
Solar is next on our list. We're seeding the idea that the whole town goes in on it so it's cheaper overall. Have you ever read Tomboy Bride? I think about it every time something seems "difficult" here.
Active solar is a different animal than passive solar. Necessary maybe but problematic. Passive solar is elegant and eminently applicable when done correctly. Keep us informed!
You hit the nail on the head lol. I think all living is hard, but we all have things we are willing to live with rather than deal with the alternative. Nothing is purely romantic. Good stuff as always! But Colorado weather - that’s awesome! ... until it snows and then I’m out lol.
Your discussion of noise is something everyone should peruse, and I also thought the metaphor: "the wind moves through her like bad takeout" was genius. More importantly, as someone who has always dreamed/dreamt (?) of owning a log cabin this piece was right up my alley. Real problems and issues that must be solved, just like real life. Thanks for this.
Ha! I grew up in a... marginally built... log cabin that only had a wood stove for heat (this was in the 80s). This is all spot on. Light between the logs where the chinking and insulation had fallen out... squirrels in our wood stove (they fell down the chimney in the summer - when we didn’t need to have fires)... so many ants and bugs... but the quiet and the stars and the challenge and the stories of it all. ♥️
My husband is a real Noise Detective and he will not tolerate a hum on anything. The lengths he went to choose a fridge, my god. But i'll hand it to him: I can't hear that fridge.
I would absolutely love the quiet, and I tell myself I would love the lack of signal to my phone, but I honestly don't think I would last longer than a week with the outside living inside. I love nature, but I like nature outside the house. After dealing with a roost of bats this summer, I have an amazing appreciation for a well-sealed home.
I do love reading about your experience though, Kelton!!
When I moved from Seattle back to my home town (suburbs of Kansas City) it took me a long time to get used to the quiet and how dark it was. Now I have moved further out because there was too much noise and light. Lol. I suppose we do adapt but the adapting is challenging.
I've been thinking a lot about noise too. How it layers. Cities and even suburbs are full of so many distractions that stand between you and the things you actually want to listen to...
Thai food. I sometimes really miss Thai food. The grocery planning sometimes takes up too much brain space-- I think it’s because it feels like something I can control. Unlike the hundreds of downed trees from the Dec. 15 wind event, or the chipmunk invasion, or the puzzlement over what kind of scat is on the deck. I wouldn’t trade it. 💙
Now when we go to cities, we stock up on ingredients we can't find here. Right now we're working our way through https://www.dishoom.com/cookery-book/ to get some of the greatness we can't find here. Though I will say, the scat ID'ing is also a favorite hobby of mine. Nothing more modern backwoods than texting each other scat photos lol.
Fun! The pandemic sharpened our focus here on medical care and safety. Do not get hurt when the nearest doc is a hydrochloroquine quack, the bad hospital is an hour away, the ICU means a giant co-pay life flight. Himself has 4 epi-pens because they only last 15 minutes, and we’d get to the ER faster than the (one) ambulance could scramble. A ski patrol friend helped us build trauma first aid kits for the cars, because I don’t want to watch helplessly as someone bleeds out on the highway if we are the first to pass an elk strike. If we’d thought through medical care, we might not have been so brave/foolish to settle here. At least we have a good vet who stocks rattlesnake anti-venom. Bet he could be pressed into service if we needed it ourselves.
Stocking rattlesnake venom and epi-pens, a true lifestyle choice. I love the idea of trauma kits. A couple weeks back I watched a woman clip an elk on the highway, and I had to lead-car her for like 30 miles at 25 mph because she was so (rightfully) terrified after it happened.
Spent a week in the mountains outside of Cusco, Peru. Lived a year in a home on the edge of a provincial park in Calgary, AB. Both places were notable for the quiet. I remember the night of the first Big Snow in Calgary. My children were sleeping, lights all off. I stood by the window overlooking the park and breathed in the muffled silence. It was glorious. The first night we moved back to Texas we woke up to police sirens, trains, and church bells, all within a 10 minute interval.
Calgary and Cusco! Gosh I hope I get to experience both. It's funny with the sounds of the city, some of them are charming in their own right (trains and church bells!) but silence is such a different gift.
Another piece so well conceived and expressed. Tangible, emotional and once again, thought provoking: "what are really seeking". So glad you found your "spot", your haven that allows you to explore your mind and share what you find.
I am already aware that I couldn't live there but that is why I love reading your excellent writing...living vicariously is the way to do it!!
I live in the suburbs of DC but there are a fair number of places I can hike where you wouldn't know that the "capital of the free world" is a few miles away. I was at one of my favorites on Friday....all trees, birds, chipmunks, and insects...until some dude on a bike with his phone blasting "Highway to Hell" came down the trail! I often wonder what the animals think of us making all that noise for no reason.
Lol, I too wonder what the animals are thinking. I was watching a dog training video the other day that was saying why verbal-only commands can sometimes fall flat because our animals hear us talking *all day* and that really stuck with me. A real noisy species!
I can't imagine a better one of your newsletters to read before we chat this week!
Excited for that!
Well written thanks. Worth pointing out that a few hundred or so years ago all of our ancestors lived this way and going back further would have been shocked and surprised to be granted the luxury of this kind of life. That we should go back to the advantages of this life today isn’t surprising.it’s where we’ve come from and are now returning to. The artificial world of digital convenience and imposed social control is dying of it’s own weight. I would suggest however that the building of a structure designed to function as passive solar might be easier and smarter. Passive solar out of logs? Sure.
Solar is next on our list. We're seeding the idea that the whole town goes in on it so it's cheaper overall. Have you ever read Tomboy Bride? I think about it every time something seems "difficult" here.
Active solar is a different animal than passive solar. Necessary maybe but problematic. Passive solar is elegant and eminently applicable when done correctly. Keep us informed!
You hit the nail on the head lol. I think all living is hard, but we all have things we are willing to live with rather than deal with the alternative. Nothing is purely romantic. Good stuff as always! But Colorado weather - that’s awesome! ... until it snows and then I’m out lol.
I’m still on my journey of reading the archives, and the Snoots anecdote really tugged on my heart. Lots of love for the memory and to you all 💜😭
Just shared it on LinkedIn. With endorsement. Gotta do something if I can't afford a subscription now...
Oh I so appreciate this!
Your discussion of noise is something everyone should peruse, and I also thought the metaphor: "the wind moves through her like bad takeout" was genius. More importantly, as someone who has always dreamed/dreamt (?) of owning a log cabin this piece was right up my alley. Real problems and issues that must be solved, just like real life. Thanks for this.
Ha! I grew up in a... marginally built... log cabin that only had a wood stove for heat (this was in the 80s). This is all spot on. Light between the logs where the chinking and insulation had fallen out... squirrels in our wood stove (they fell down the chimney in the summer - when we didn’t need to have fires)... so many ants and bugs... but the quiet and the stars and the challenge and the stories of it all. ♥️
OH. And that delicious feeling of relax when the power goes out and all the electronics stop humming.
My husband is a real Noise Detective and he will not tolerate a hum on anything. The lengths he went to choose a fridge, my god. But i'll hand it to him: I can't hear that fridge.
Now you're gonna need to share the fridge name/style. Inquiring minds want to know.
She still purrs sometimes but we went with Fisher & Paykel
Lovely posts, lovely prose. Thank you.
I would absolutely love the quiet, and I tell myself I would love the lack of signal to my phone, but I honestly don't think I would last longer than a week with the outside living inside. I love nature, but I like nature outside the house. After dealing with a roost of bats this summer, I have an amazing appreciation for a well-sealed home.
I do love reading about your experience though, Kelton!!
Bats, woof. Yeah sometimes that can be all it takes to get a hard NOPE haha.
Well done! (I already figured I wouldn’t last a week, lol)
When I moved from Seattle back to my home town (suburbs of Kansas City) it took me a long time to get used to the quiet and how dark it was. Now I have moved further out because there was too much noise and light. Lol. I suppose we do adapt but the adapting is challenging.
I've been thinking a lot about noise too. How it layers. Cities and even suburbs are full of so many distractions that stand between you and the things you actually want to listen to...
Great read, as always!
Excited to read your upcoming post on noise!
Thai food. I sometimes really miss Thai food. The grocery planning sometimes takes up too much brain space-- I think it’s because it feels like something I can control. Unlike the hundreds of downed trees from the Dec. 15 wind event, or the chipmunk invasion, or the puzzlement over what kind of scat is on the deck. I wouldn’t trade it. 💙
Now when we go to cities, we stock up on ingredients we can't find here. Right now we're working our way through https://www.dishoom.com/cookery-book/ to get some of the greatness we can't find here. Though I will say, the scat ID'ing is also a favorite hobby of mine. Nothing more modern backwoods than texting each other scat photos lol.
Fun! The pandemic sharpened our focus here on medical care and safety. Do not get hurt when the nearest doc is a hydrochloroquine quack, the bad hospital is an hour away, the ICU means a giant co-pay life flight. Himself has 4 epi-pens because they only last 15 minutes, and we’d get to the ER faster than the (one) ambulance could scramble. A ski patrol friend helped us build trauma first aid kits for the cars, because I don’t want to watch helplessly as someone bleeds out on the highway if we are the first to pass an elk strike. If we’d thought through medical care, we might not have been so brave/foolish to settle here. At least we have a good vet who stocks rattlesnake anti-venom. Bet he could be pressed into service if we needed it ourselves.
Stocking rattlesnake venom and epi-pens, a true lifestyle choice. I love the idea of trauma kits. A couple weeks back I watched a woman clip an elk on the highway, and I had to lead-car her for like 30 miles at 25 mph because she was so (rightfully) terrified after it happened.