Silence can be Golden

On my way to work! 

We live with constant noise.  In our modern world we would be  hard pressed to find silence anywhere, including our homes.  What with our furnace fan going off and on, our electrical appliances humming,  and the tick tock of a near by clock, all these sounds produce white noise of which we are for the most part unaware.  Until it is taken away.   Then we have silence, and we notice it.

Even if we are in deep sleep (REM), silence will wake us up. It's interesting how when we are used to these noises we sleep like a baby.  But take away the sounds and we wake up discombobulated.  What's wrong? Why is it so quite?

I am tucked in nice and cosy under the duvet dreaming of sandy beaches in faraway places.  I stir sleepily, then  I become aware of the silence and the darkness of the bedroom.  I look towards the direction of the dresser for the clock, it is shrouded  in blackness.  Immediately I know the power is out.  I reach for my ipad on the night table to check the time, 4:03 am.  I was not too surprised that we were having a power outage.  Especially with freezing rain throughout the previous day and over night, there was a high probability for it to occur.  And of course,  it had to happend when hubby is away on business.  This is the joy of country living, which is just  a bump in the middle of the night.

I should have turned over and resumed sleeping, but I couldn't.  This silence, is not normal and it puts me on edge.  I wake up.

Thankfully, we are prepared for these occasional power outages. Although, we  hubby still needs to get a new battery for the generator.  Anyway, in my night table is a flashlight.  I make my way to the kitchen and light an old fashion coal-oil lamp.  I debate if I should make a fire in the fireplace and then decide against it because I would be leaving in a couple of hours anyway.   I sit and enjoy the quietness. Then it occurred to on me that this is a perfect time to meditate!  Pure Silence...