Peace and Quiet

I’ve always been someone who enjoys a certain amount of absolute peace and quiet. In the words of the Desiderata (Max Ehrmann), “Remember what peace there may be in silence”.

So when we moved out of a town to a more peaceful, rural location, I never worried that I would find things too quiet! I may have wondered whether I would feel isolated as I was no longer within walking distance of local shops and amenities, but not whether the serene calm of the countryside would prove stifling. I’ve not even missed frequent visits to the shops, but only go now on a ‘need to’, as opposed to a ‘want to’ basis, filling my free time with my many hobbies and enjoyment of the countryside environment.

It’s true that it can be incredibly quiet here, but in the most relaxing way. I positively relish it! There are days when I hear little more than the sound of birdsong and the odd boat passing along the river (that runs along the edge of our garden) when the tide is right. There are certainly no cars and lorries trundling past to break the peace, as we live at the end of a narrow lane – a road to nowhere but our home!

The ‘glorified shed’ is a quieter place than our old home too. We have no landline constantly trilling the alert of unwelcome junk calls, just mobiles that we can put on silent, and canvassers never seem to knock on our door – they possibly can’t even find us! We definitely live a calmer, less-interrupted lifestyle.

The longer that I live here, the more I seem to wallow in the peaceful atmosphere, finding it more of a shock when I venture into a busy town, with its onslaught of chaos and cacophony of noises competing for attention. I always emit a sigh of relief when I return to my little rural haven and the sound of (near) silence!