OTOH...perhaps it's TOO quiet where you live...
Category: Kitchen Sink...
Posted Thursday, September 30, 2004 at 05:26 PM [GMT-6]

My recent post about the absence of silence in today's busy environment attracted a good number of comments; it's something that many of you have contemplated on occasion. But Cowtown Pattie over at Texas Trifles has a different perspective on silence, in a post that will definitely stimulate some memories for anyone over the age of 40.

Her premise is that air conditioning has caused (allowed?) us to be virtual shut-ins in our own homes, at least here in Texas where a/c is no longer considered to be a luxury. It's good stuff, although her reference to "piggy wants a signal" lost me. Our motley crew of neighborhood urchins opted for a rousing game of kick the can most evenings.

I will contend, however, that neighborhoods are what we decide to make them, and knowing your neighbors, while perhaps a vanishing practice, is still a remarkably simple thing to do. I dunno; maybe Midland is different from some bigger cities. Evenings in our neighborhood are still filled with people of all ages and ethnicities walking, kids playing in front yards and in the park, folks waving from their lawn chairs at passers-by. Silence is a good thing, sometimes, but not when it's the defining characteristic of a neighborhood.