Kay Hively: The beautiful sound of silence

I was in my doctor’s waiting room one day and heard an unusual sound. I opened my ears and listened and it occurred to me that the sound was of silence.

Looking around, unlike many waiting rooms, there was no television cooking show or news program blaring. Seven people were waiting and no one was talking on their cell phone. No one was playing games on their phones. Three of the seven were reading, the others were silently sitting in their chairs.

The sound was beautiful.

Noise pollution is one of the most offensive elements in nature. All around us today are the sounds of automobiles, busses, sirens, air conditioners going off and on, construction equipment, dogs and many other loud sounds.

Although these things can be annoying, especially when several are sounding at once. I really am grateful for them all. Many of the noises around us are the result of things that have made our lives better. They provide us with more and better food, medicine, transportation and generally make our lives more safe and comfortable.

I realize that many people fight against items that help us. Fossil fuels are considered evil. Despite how we have been given so many things that make our lives more comfortable, many curse fossil fuels. Without gasoline, we would not have cars, trucks, farm equipment, and other things that have brought us from the horse and buggy age to the space age.

Of course, “climate change” seems to go against many things we cherish and find useful. Such things as cutting trees, caring for farm animals, fishing the sea, taking precious minerals from the ground and developing land are subjects under fire.

Who doesn’t understand that climate change affects humankind? Almost everyone knows that it is cold in winter and hot in summer. People know that deserts shrink and grow, and that it’s cold in April one year and warm in another year.

Climate change activists now rail against forest fires that often rage in California, yet they don’t want the underbrush and mast in the forest cleaned up to remove some of the major fuels sources.

I started this column out with the sounds of silence and ended up with thoughts on climate change. Maybe next year, we will figure it all out. Happy New Year.

Just between you and me, a doctor’s waiting room can spark many thoughts, especially if the room is quiet.
(Kay Hively is a historian, author and former editor, reporter and columnist for the Neosho Daily News an Neosho Post.)