Noise

I found myself writing about noise…

We went away on holiday, an hour inland from the French west coast, and found ourselves near peace, nature, space… for just a few days.
It’s true one man’s heaven is another man’s hell, but it’s also true that heaven can be a place on earth.
Marais Poitevin; a glimpse of a peace, the only sounds, the wind, birds, and goats…
Home-grown tomatoes, French cheese, black pepper, and honey… beer and strawberries.
It’s not polished, it’s not packaged, not in the brochures, just simply there..
We were thankful.

Peace? The absence of noise?
“Well what’s noise?” says the wife “I can hear the wind…”
“Clutter…” I say.
No clutter, to hear just the wind, briefly, the breath, the spirit of the moment… without reserve…
“I thought you were reading your book?” she says…
I can’t. There’s too much peace. Pacifique. I think I read books to distract me from the noise. To give a little shape to the chaos. So, I can’t read right now… it’s too quiet.

However, the silence is accompanied by the ever-present tinnitus. The still waters hide the invasive American crayfish; toppled trees lie as memorials from past storms. And it’s hotter than hell in paradise. I drink another bottle of water after pouring a glug of it over my head.
An orange butterfly flits between the verdant vegetation. An otter breaks the surface and scuttles across the river. A small deer has been standing still as a statue until I see it, and as he realises I’ve seen him, he bounds away. Dragonflies and kingfishers…

‘The noise hides the silence. It does not destroy the silence.‘
Charles de Leusse

The clutterful noise will return, have no doubt. I guess it’s our response to noise that might make the difference.

Three days later we were sat overlooking the sea, pondering the je ne sais quoi of the French joie de vivre. It all just seems a tad more beautiful. The French reply “d’accord” where we might reply “OK”, the local way seems just a little more harmonious. Accord means “agreement”. When used in a musical sense, it means ‘harmony’; chord. I agree, in harmony. Our ‘OK’ seems just to mean ‘OK’.

Taking time away from our noisy habits and routines can highlight different ways of being. We’re grateful for ‘time out’, to notice ‘rests’ and the spaces between the noise.

True peace is just too big to explain; it’s too small a thing to pinpoint and fully grasp.

As is so often the case, we return again to Mr Keats;

Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard
    Are sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on;
Not to the sensual ear, but, more endear’d,
    Pipe to the spirit ditties of no tone…
“Beauty is truth, truth beauty,”—that is all
        Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.

Bruit
‘Le bruit cache le silence. – Il ne détruit le silence.’
Charles de Leusse
‘The noise hides the silence. It does not destroy the silence. ‘


Très bon café
Un jour parfait.

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On another note, some noise:

To cut a long story short;
We have had a great time in France; countryside, coast and city. But halfway through, the car broke down. Taken away by breakdown service. Over two days in the planned hotel, we are told by the ‘Breakdown Agent’ that the car will not be fixed by the time we planned to return on the ferry. Hire car provided. But still, no, the car will not be fixed in time. Anxious few days, discussions with ‘breakdown agent’ about leaving car in France, repatriation(?), returning by train to collect car at a later date! LOL! Taxi to Caen and foot passenger with significant luggage on ferry, train from Portsmouth to Leicester… brain was in clutterville! To say the least.
Up steps one of the nicest blokes I’ve had the pleasure to meet. A French friend that we know lived nearby. I phoned him. “Ne vous inquiétez pas!” he assures us we’ll sort it. Somehow?
The breakdown agent still repeatedly says the car will be fixed in 8 days; we travel back in 3 days. In short, we travel to the car at the garage with our friend to empty it for a taxi return home. Our friend has a 15-minute mediation to explain the complications of the 8-day delay. They say we’ll see what they can do, but can’t promise anything. On the day of our planned return, we plan to sleep over at friends, rebook a new ferry, etc, hoping that 8 days become 3…
Friend calls the garage. Against all expectations and odds, they have fixed the car.
Oh la la!!!. We drive to Caen!
We can’t thank our friend enough for the calm, friendly, beautiful way he helped us in our time of need. Belle humanité!
That’s the short version!