Dan Antion

Tranquility – #1LinerWeds

Gotta get me some of that.

Doesn’t that sound nice? I started thinking about this last week while attending our company’s Annual Meeting in Florida. No, not the beach, not a walk along the Gulf shore. Rather, a terrace outside a series of meeting rooms where several companies were having breakfast. I saw the sign below and thought: “we need more areas like this.” On the other hand, wouldn’t it be nice if we didn’t even need the sign?

As you may know, The Editor doesn’t edit #1LinerWeds posts. The theory behind that decision evolved from the thought that even I could be trusted with the word choice and grammar of a one-line post. Who knew?

Otherwise, she would no doubt point out the fact that I am the enemy of all things tranquil around this house. She is quiet. Maddie is quiet, until she isn’t. When intruders threaten the perimeter or the extended perimeter, a.k.a. all that Maddie can see/sniff, she goes bonkers. MiMi is quiet – MuMu is NOT quiet. Worse yet, MuMu is not quiet when everyone else is trying to sleep. But those are sharp, isolated bursts of noise.

I seem to be a source of abnormal ambient noise. The sounds made by my phone, the TV, my conversations with my friend, my eating crunchy things, bodily noises, bumping into things and the attendant “ouch, damn, aieeee, etc.” the occasional grump, snarl and moan when the thing-I-bumped-into’s name starts with an ‘M’ and untimely requests and comments yelled from a different room.

At work, I am the unintended recipient of ambient noise. My office is across the hall from the kitchen. The background noise of the kitchen is bad enough; the microwave, faucet, disposer, ice-maker and tea kettle all make a tranquility disturbing amount of noise. However, I would accept all of that if I could get my coworkers to speak softly. No one speaks softly in the kitchen.

Maybe I need a sign!

This post is part of Linda G. Hill’s fun weekly series One-Liner Wednesday. If you have a one-liner, I’d encourage you to join in on the fun. You can follow this link to participate and to see the one-liners from the other participants.

This is a different day from the foggy start.
Unbelievably still.
I think if I lived in one of those houses, I wouldn’t be bothering the M’s
Even cased in fog, it’s still tranquil.
Breakfast is served.
These guys are all heading for those two wires.
I guess this is how they stay warm (except for the guys on the end).
The sun is setting later, but still pretty.
That’s MuMu back there.
“I see a peanut in your hand. Are you going to toss that to me?”
This is one of the points during the year when I get to see the sunrise during my morning commute.
“Your not going to pet me, are you?”
Maddie loves the snow, but it’s really cold today. She’s ready to go in and sit by the fire.
This is how we warm up.

79 comments

  4. Tranquility’s definition should say, ‘on a good weather day – no humans are about.’ I’m usually up early, dark outside and most other people still sleeping. (Tranquil) THEN – I hear a bathroom flushing, tv turned on, fire engine going down the street, lawn maintenance trucks and equipment getting unloaded, weather helicopters going overhead, but lower than the private jets coming and going from Boca Airport — and another day begins.

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    • Oh my – I am imagining the Grinch saying “all the noise noise noise noise. The one thing I can’t stand is the noise, noise, noise, noise.” I only wish I was laughing with you.

      In my short stay in Florida, I realized that it’s February and I was listening to a leaf blower as the grounds crew of the hotel “swept” up the clippings from the bushes they trimmed. Winter does bring us more periods of silence, or at least less noise. Maybe having four seasons isn’t so bad.

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  5. I have this cat that makes up for all of the annoying noises I make.
    It’s funny that the background noise (TV, radio, sound coffee breweing, etc.) can be very tranquil to me, along with the quiet spaces along a bike trail in the summer.

    I could stare at the Florida photos all day. It’s a much better view than the current one and I wouldn’t have the noise of a snow plow outside my window at 5:30 am.

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    • This is why I stop at a park along the river, most mornings. Regardless of how high or fast the river is moving, it has a calming effect. MuMu – no calming effect – none at all.

      I end up listening to music at a low volume at work, especially during lunchtime. I find that I don’t really hear the music, but I don’t hear the people either.

      We had snow and ice yesterday and overnight. It’s pretty out there, but dangerous.

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  7. I remember the tranquility part of Florida very well. On a lunch hour I could steal away to a nearby park and feed the critters, photograph seabirds and enjoy my time. Here I never even get lunch most days. Sigh. I seek my tranquility in the Free 48. Hubby makes so many ambient noises, most notably the shuffling of his house shoes. God, how I would miss being agitated by that sound. 😏

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    • I don’t get out much at lunch, but we’re stuck in an office park that is huge. A friend and I sometimes walk at lunch, when the weather is better, but the only access to the river is through private property.

      I despise days when I don’t get a break for lunch. Working meetings, things going wrong, whatever, those days are never good.

      I hope the rest of your week is good and you slide into #Free48 safely.

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  9. I’m all about Tranquility. I say put a sign outside your door, but in my experiences the minute you tell people what you want, they’ll go out of their way to make it not happen… because we’re all little kids at heart, waiting to make trouble for someone else. 😉

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  10. LOL – your descriptions of the sounds of noises brightened my day! I agree, it’s sad a sign would even be needed – it’s like when we’re little we learned “don’t talk in the library”. Apparently, that’s not enough of a lesson for some. Enjoy your Wednesday!

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  11. These photos! Ahhh… 💛💛💛
    You know what struck me is the sign requesting voices at a “normal conversational level”. So silence or at a whisper is too much to ask? Even for a TRANQUILITY area?? Yeah, the fact that we need the sign is kinda sad.

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    • I think the sign might be aimed at people on cell phones (who always seem to yell). I can imagine that a lot of people are busting out of these meeting rooms to take/make a call, while others are just trying to enjoy the morning sun on the terrace. Overhearing a cell phone call is one of my least favorite things.

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  12. Put a sign outside your office that says, TALK LOUDER; I’M MISSING SOME OF THE DETAILS. Maybe then they’ll whisper. Beautiful, tranquil photos. I’m a sucker for winter shots showing the tracery of trees against the sky.

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  13. haha! Poor little MuMu. I am so used to noise at night. Parker is pretty quiet, but Piper is a chatterbox, and she ‘chirps.’ Weirdest thing. Work is a whole ‘nother animal. My office is next to the kitchen, also…do people realize how loud they talk on the cellphones? And then I come home and husband has the TV on. All I want is a little bit of quiet…..

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    • Many years ago, I asked my wife about building a family room in the basement. At first, she wasn’t all that enthused. I told her “I’ll move the TV down there” and she was all in.

      People talking on cell phones are absurdly loud – I have nver understood this.

      From one kitchen neighbor to another, you have, my sympathy, Lois.

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  14. Fortunately I have been able to tune out the sounds in the office. Cound be the noise cancelling head phones :).

    Nothing better than my morning stroll; hearing a train whistle in the background amidst the rumbling of car engine and other assorted machinery. Not exactly quiet but peaceful if that even makes any sense.

    Loved the gallery. I am glad you captioned Maddie loves the snow … I was feeling sorry for her with that snow on her coat.

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    • I find that noise cancelling headphones work well for sounds, but they are designed to let you still hear voices, and mine do. I use them, but I play some music at lunchtime. I could listen to train whistles all day – love that sound.

      We have to be careful with Maddie in the winter. Irish Setters don’t have an undercoat, so there is nothing but skin under that hair. She doesn’t seem to know that she’s cold (or should be). She’ll actually stay out until she starts to shiver.

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  17. At least your photos are tranquil. It’s far from tranquil at work most days and it’s a shame. One of the things I love about walking in the morning when hardly anyone’s about is the quiet. I really need that! Here’s hoping your day will be tranquil even if not quiet.

    janet

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    • Thanks Janet. If I put a sign up, it will be counting down the days until retirement 🙂

      That breakfast was nice. Beers on the gulf-facing porch-bar later in day we’re also good.

      I love taking picture during sunrise.

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  19. Tranquility ahhhh. Some moments it begs moderation. Yes cellphones and work kitchens can be troublesome. Try living under a secondary flight path. Even with the ‘amazing whisper jests’ we are used to the 30 second pause in conversations. The rewind button is a given watching anything during summer with the windows open. Funny though focusing on the garden sometimes I hardly hear the air traffic at all. Did a plane just go by ? If you say so. Sometimes life requires tranquility. You just need to know where to find it. Even on a Saturday on one of those ‘Iffy’ situations. Have a tranquil humpday ! Even if you have to tranquilize someone to do it.

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    • It’s funny, John, we do live under the secondary flight path, a.k.a. the “cross wind runway” which often puts us in the takeoff path during storms. I, too, can ignore the landing planes while working outside, but there’s no ignoring the ones taking off, even though they are already at a much higher altitude. I’d say it’s why I visit that establishment on Saturdays, to escape the noise, but…

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  20. Dan, I could sure use some tranquility in my life right now!! That first photo is a knockout, and the third ‘foggy’ one is right behind it. The birds on the lines are a riot. When we go to a local shopping center, there is one section of wire that is always wall-to-wall birds….even in the summer. I mean, you couldn’t fit a toothpick between them, just like in your photo.

    Murphy wears a coat when she’s out in the cold. But because she’s only “slightly” spoiled, she sits down in the house as soon as you take off her coat so her ‘exposed’ parts get towel dried. Then she goes up on our (HER!) bed and waits to be blow dried! Lol.

    MiMi and MuMu couldn’t not be adorable if they tried,
    🐾Ginger 🐾

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    • I was nodding along until I got to “blow dried” – Oh my goodness, I have to hide the comment from Maddie’s prying eyes. Heaven forbid she discover a dog more pampered. Her big thing is to wiggle around so we always dry her head first. When she gets a bath, her head gets washed last and dried first. She actually laid down in the snow this time. I don’t know what possessed her o do that.

      We do have a coat for Maddie, but she associates it with sitting on her cot. We’re afraid to use it for “normal” dog duty, lest we get talked into sitting in the cold.

      I don’t know what it is about this particular bit of wire. I have pictures from last winter with the birds crowded in there, feather to feather. I guess its a thing that they do, but it does call up the memory of Hitchcock’s The Birds.

      Thanks so much for your support and comments, Ginger. Sorry that I can’t show this one to Maddie. I’ll tell her you send your love. ;-)

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  21. You sunset and sunrise shots are too awesome. In lighting design there is the concept of color temperature of a lighting fixture, where color temperatures up to 3000K (Kelvin) are warm colors and over 5000K are cool colors. The best thing about warm colors is that they are inviting. They inspire a sense of comfort and romance. Like when you sit at a fireplace in the evening. They are lovely. Your sunsets are like that. Lovely. The worst thing about warm colors is that if you saw a thief in a blue or red shirt you might think it is black. This is why LED lights are preferred for security. They produce cool colors like sunlight at daytime. But sunlight at daytime is just functional and too far away from inviting.

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    • Thanks you for that compliment, Peter, and the information. I am looking forward to outfitting my workshop with LED lights, later this year. I like the color, and I really like the amount of power I’ll be saving. Up until now, because florescent lights do not start well in cold weather, I’ve used halogen lights. They are warm (lighting and literally) but they take a big bite out of the 80 amp circuit I ran out to the garage, as each bulb (2-bulb fixtures) are rated at 300 watts. As much as I hope for my shop to be inviting, it’s more important to see the actual colors, especially when finishing a piece of furniture.

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      • Of course, your workshop needs LED lights. They have so many advantages, chief among which are their energy-saving capacity and long life. I recently did a report on them for a client who wants to carry out street lighting with high masts. Halogen lights are so power hungry and their poor color rendering index makes them even worse for workshops which need to be sufficiently lit with about 400-500lux (40-50FC). When designing for residential units, we mix variety of color temperatures, depending on the client’s needs. Most of the time we recommend the warm white colors (4000K) to be installed in places intended for relaxing such as in bedrooms, balconies, living rooms, terraces, around the pools, etc, while LED or compact fluorescent lights in kitchens, laundry rooms, libraries, stores, corridors, garages, workshops, compound, driveway, etc.

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        • Wow, Peter, you actually think about these things in your designs. So many of the new places I see, look like they chose the cheapest fixtures or the ones their company always uses. Here, in our office, they are gradually changing over to LEDs, but they’ve given no thought to the purpose of the fixture. There used to be beautiful, warm accent lighting in the hallways – they simply removed those fixtures :(

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  26. I live for quiet at home. It’s quiet at work, I sing loudly in my car, but oh, at home, I do love the quiet, and it’s rare. Right now I hear two people talkin in the kitchen, (no one’s ever quiet in the kitchen, eh?) a cat talkin to Moo, the whir of the furnace, The Mister’s laptop, and the clickety clack of my keyboard. Oh, and now also my eating of crackers :P
    It’s actually kinda odd no one’s playing music or tv or video games… Hmm.

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  27. The noise of people talking is easy for me to drown out, but traffic noises distract me. You know if you need a sign or not:) You could also close the door… (if there is a door:) )

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    • There is a door. I keep it mostly closed, but my office will become either too hot ot too cold if I close it all the way for too long.

      It’s funny about the traffic. When I lived right next to Grand Central Parkway (Queens, NY) I used to pretend the non-stop traffic was the ocean.

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  28. Hi Dan – tranquility is delightful when it’s around … I’m not sure what you can do … perhaps your sign should read ‘my time at the office draws to a close soon …’. You could have my computer which has some ambient noise … but at this moment it’s quiet – a mind of its own! It’s the way of the world … noise and no noise – enjoy what you can get, and if you can try and practice before you spend more time at home – where The Editor’s peace will be disturbed?! … or it’s Valentine’s Day togetherness will reign! Cheers Hilary

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  29. Some people seem to be inherently noisy – like my husband – and others tend to be very quiet – like me. When I think about the many friends we have, that dichotomy seems to be evident in each relationship. Now I’m starting to wonder if that’s typical.

    When I was working, my office was initially outside the Finance dept – very quiet – and then I was moved outside the Sales dept – OMG, noisy, noisy, noisy! Thankfully, however, never near the lunchroom! 😏

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  30. In this house, my husband is a source of perpetual noise. All he has to do it seems is BE and there is noise. I however, am quiet for the most part unless having conversations with my cats. Our cats are quiet unless they are talking to me or letting me know something’s up. Is it a guy thing, this noise? Even when I am in the forests I am still hearing traffic noise, air traffic noise and it bugs me. It is getting harder and harder to find places where SILENCE rules. Deep deep in on one the forests I go to has this SILENCE but you have to hike miles in order to get to it. Tranquility is a good thing. This world is in much need of it.

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    • I think I am such a source of noise around here. We live near the airport, so there isn’t much in the way of true quiet around here. I do find places, like the park by the river. We do need quiet sometimes.

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  32. Great idea! Maybe a tranquility room…. I’d like to go to a restaurant with a tranquility section – where you use your library voices if people still know what that means. I don’t hate many things, but one of them is going to a restaurant where a guest (or even staff) is talking so loud I can’t hear the person across the table from me. Beautiful photos!

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