White Noise
Glenbury is a one-block side street near the McKinley exit of the highway. As I was riding my bike to the street this morning, there was a constant flow of cars down McKinley, with drivers heading off for their morning commute. I started looking inside the cars and counted 43 cars in a row with just one person in the vehicle. I guess this isn’t surprising given that my wife, my daughter and I all drove away from our house this morning as the only passengers in our cars.
The hustle and bustle of McKinley quickly dissipated when I turned down Glenbury. There was a calming feeling on the street I couldn’t quite place. I think it might have been felt by the residents of the street as well. I passed a front porch with a large Peace sign. Then a few houses later I passed a rainbow-colored rock garden that looked like a flowing stream in the front yard. Glenbury has a definite “Zen” vibe going on.
Then I realized what I felt. There was a relaxing, hushed sound coming from the nearby highway. The acoustics of being close to the highway, but not right next to it created a wonderful ambient sound. It was like a white noise machine you would listen to if you wanted help falling asleep at night. I closed my eyes and pictured myself opening my windows on a warm summer evening, snoozing on the couch with the highway hum in the background. Now I had the “Zen” vibe going on too!
