Sunday, November 11, 2007

I'm a Little Bit Crazy - and So Are You

   I believe there are degrees of paranoia.  And I suspect we all have a little.  It is part of being alive, and it is part of the survival instinct.

   For example, watch a flock of birds gathered around a feeder, or walking on the beach.  If you stand perfectly still, they will ignore you and feed busily.  But the moment you make a sudden movement and they all fly off together instantly.  They flee, from nothing, just a sudden movement  In an excess of caution, away they go.

   Perhaps we have that sense too.  An excess of caution that helps preserve the species... humankind.  We are aware of certain slight signals that our senses perceive as POSSIBLE danger. 

   What I am getting at with this rambling speculation is this: I am suddenly aware of the sounds of BLOWERS.  Since my move to a new room, sounds that I had grown accustomed to in my old room, are new and acute and impinge upon my awareness.  And I am aware I am surrounded by blowers, all whining, and threatening me, somewhat.  But unlike the birds, I cannot flee.

   The refrigerator clicks on with an audible POP and the blower whines, for exactly seven minutes... every half hour.  Whines seven minutes and rests twenty-three.  I rise, and turn on my computer and the blower starts and stays on all day, until I turn it off at night.

   I go to the bathroom and when I turn on the light a blower starts.  The heater/air-conditioner blowers is on. In the dining room the ice-maker howls while we eat.  I have had to flee that one a couple of times, like a frightened bird. No doubt your kitchen has a blower over the stove.

   We are obsessed with moving air around... to cool or to heat or to freshen. Our cars have a blower to cool the engine and another to warm the passengers.

   And suddenly I have become aware of all these blowers.  I know they are not out to GET ME, but I feel like I should flee.  To where?

   I know I am crazy...but, fortunately, just a little bit. Perhaps we all are.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

You know, I like the sound of these "blowers", the hums, I don't like dead silence.  I like when my refrigerator hums or a fan is humming or my computer is buzzing.  Go figure.  I guess I have gotten used to all the buzz. Aside from the strange hums, I hope you like your new spot.  Love, Val xox
http://journals.aol.com/valphish/ThereisaSeason

Anonymous said...

I turned up the hot water heater for the winter and when it kicked on it made one hell of a noise , thought it was going to blow thru the roof!

Anonymous said...

I keep an air filter machine in my bedroom so the blowing sound drowns out other sounds that wake me up. I hope you get used to all those blowing sounds. Maybe you need some meds to use when you get overcome by all those things. Not all the time but when they get on your nerves. Helen

Anonymous said...

I do better with a little "white noise" than I do total silence.  It's the unexpected sounds that bother me.

I used to live in San Francisco as you probably know.  I'd learned to tune out the Alcatraz fog horn until the night my husband said "hey, listen to the foghorn".  From then on I was listening for it (along with the noise of the cable cars pulling into the barn right down the street).

Anonymous said...

I don't think you are crazy Chuck.....I think you have a great mind that is working overtime! lol
love ya,
carlene

Anonymous said...

    Give it some time, and you won't think about it anymore.
Jude
http://journals.aol.com/jmorancoyle/MyWay

Anonymous said...

That blows.