Sounds of Silence...

 

If you said, "Simon & Garfunkel, 1964," you get 5 bonus points.  Only 5??  This one may be the easiest music trivia question ever asked on this blog.

This silence was unusual for me.  A month or so ago, what got spilled into the phone charger that sits by my chair in the living room... it was only a matter of time that it was going to die.  Surprisingly, it held in there for this past month.  Until last night.  When I got up this morning, my phone was at 18%.  I checked the charger: the AirPods part of it was working fine; the adjustable light on it was equally fine; the most important part - the phone charger - wasn't charging.  I put my phone on a charger in the kitchen and moved on with my morning routine.

When it came time to take Murphy outside, I usually grab my phone and listen to podcasts or YouTube videos about RVs, electronic devices, bikes, or whatever else interests me at the moment.  Once in a while, I'll pull up the Hulu app to watch one of our local TV news shows.  I left the phone inside to be charged.

The wind is down today, so I put up a couple umbrellas to provide shade to the patio area.  Then sat down to keep an eye on Murphy.  Without a phone to provide sound, I was more aware of the sounds on the patio.  Mostly birds.  The occasional sound of a jet on approach to Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport.  There is also a small private airstrip community a mile or so from our house - no activity there this morning.

Speaking of aircraft activity: people in the northeast part of the Valley are up in arms that an airport in that area is seeing increased activity due to flight training being done there.  They built homes near an airport and are up in arms that there is airplane "noise."  Joan and I both appreciate "airplane noise" - probably due the time we owned airplanes.  I like the sound of different general aviation airplanes - I can tell the difference between a Lake Amphibian and a V-Tail Bonanza climbing out at the nearby private airstrip.  The airline activity on approach or departure from Sky Harbor is high enough that it is background sound.  Not intrusive at all.

But, this morning was different.  Almost "forced silence" since I left my phone inside to get charged.  Like most people these days, my phone is with me almost all the time.  Except overnight, where our phones stay in the living room.  I guess I feel the need for something to fill that silence most of the time.  But this morning, it was me, Murphy, and the birds.  No traffic sounds.  No construction sounds.  No YouTube telling me why I need this latest camera.  This ain't natural.  ;-)