Imagine living in a home with no mechanical sounds!

Nothing that has a motor. No TV, no radio, no refrigerator, no furnace, no bells ringing when the food is done, no air conditioning, no man made sounds.

Maybe you are out on the western prairies, maybe you even live in a sod home. It is probably another century and you are among the American adventurers that left all of the conveniences of their eastern homes and headed for a new life in a different land.

You might hear the whistle of a teakettle if you are boiling water on a wood cook stove.   You will hear the sounds of your own breathing.  You may hum to yourself or even break out in song as a way to break the silence. The wind may be howling around the corners. Maybe there is a beloved dog yipping at an imagined enemy. You decide that you will go for a walk where at least you may hear the singing of a bird, or the buzzing of the many insects around you.

But, oh the silence.

So what do you do with the everlasting silence? For one thing, you can keep very busy. Life is not easy for anyone living alone on the prairie. There are always chores to do, the essential things that make the days seem a little smoother – wood boxes to be filled, floors to be swept, meals to be cooked, clothes to be washed.

Even without sound, you can smell the flowers. At night you can gaze at the galaxies all around you. All about you the world is filled with the majesty that is life whether you have man made sound or not.

You may wonder why I have chosen this subject today. Well, that is easy to figure out.  I just turned off all the sounds in my house, and you know what?  The silence is wonderful.  I think that I shall practice this every day for a while and it sure makes it easier to count my blessings.