It’s Saturday. This morning Lonnie got up really early and headed over to his son’s house. They are going to stain his new deck. It is going to be average temperature for this time of year, so we are looking at 105 degrees, so he wanted to get done before noon.
I had a great intention (didn’t set it strong enough apparently) to sleep in this morning. I asked him to try and be quiet when he got up at 5:30AM. He was. However…no good. I got up too and did a few things around the house and headed to the Temple for light bulbs and then to the nursery for plants, mulch, and some soil. It is now 930AM and I am all done with my gardening chores.
Most of the time Lonnie and I are both here at the house. It is on these frequent days I sometimes get an underlying feeling of irritation. And what was even more irritating was that I didn’t know why. Well, this morning it came to me: Noise.
Not so much that Lonnie is a loud guy, I have to say huhhh??? a lot when he speaks, it is not his voice. It is the stuff he does. Even in the office which is half a house away from his garage, the house fills with the noise of his wood focused hobby. The radio station (70’s Rock), saws, sanders, grinders, power nailers…just about all his tools has a plug and when used creates a very loud nerve grating noise. Lunch time brings the TV News at Noon and non-muted commercials in the front room right next to my office. After about 45 minutes, he heads back to the garage for more power tooling.
When he went to his brother’s house, he got some ancient wood boards. The pieces were recovered from the side of an old barn so they were filled with nails, staples and the stuff 100 years of people have posted on it. Before he could work with the pieces, he had to find and remove all metal. This meant a new power tool.
After a few days of anticipation, the metal detector arrived via Amazon. He ripped open the box like a kid jacked up on hot chocolate on Christmas morning, loaded the batteries and immediately searched for metal through out the house. He ran the dogs in circles and finally outside with the loud Beep-Beep that emitted each time he put it close to their dog tags, Chessie (the cat) headed under the bed (our cats have ID tags too) and Smoke kept on sleeping…she is deaf and wasn’t annoyed. The term “boys and their toys” came to mind and to my lips said out loud over the electronic tones. However, not deterred, he kept searching for hidden metal. I heard Beep-Beep for another 20 minutes loudest right behind me to a bit more muffled in the far corners of the closets. Every wall stud was located. Soon the novelty must have worn off and he went outside to remove the bits of old fasteners from the century old cedar. He is using this old side of a barn for a special surprise for our grand daughter.
Once the Beep-Beep was over, then the worst of it came without warning, the most deafening noise I ever heard was emanating from the garage. He was running the warped planks through his power planer. What a racket! Since the wood was severely cupped, each piece had to go through several times. Yikes, Excedrin here I come.
So this morning I am enjoying the peace in the house. The only noise right now is the ceiling fan whirling above me. It is old and the motor has a funny slight tinging noise every few seconds. I find it soothing. Also, I can hear the clicking of the keyboard as I type. The only other sound is Chessie constantly purring and occasionally interrupting with a hushed mew asking for her favorite kitty treats.
I don’t really like noise in the house. I rarely play the TV or stereo when alone. Sometimes I get in the mood to rock n’ roll. But, I prefer the quiet. That’s why I think I do better working from home. I can focus without the background noise of an office atmosphere. Not that I am claiming to be some type of heavy thinker or anything…it must come from all my years of working around trains and equipment.
Let’s just turn off the noise and be quiet!
Anyway, I am not exaggerating about the power tool use. Our electric bill came yesterday and it is $30 higher this year than the same time last year…he says it is the air conditioner. It isn’t.
So, now that I know the source of my irritation, I will work on releasing the frustration. His power tools do a lot of good for our family, friends, home and community. Most of all they do a lot of good for Lonnie.