The sound of silence...

So the other day, when it was just me and the boys at home, at around mid-morning, after all the breakfast and playing melee, there was a rare moment of silence. Winkie was on the chair, head bent quietly over a book (*heavens*), Thambi was on the floor playing with his trains, and I was in the kitchen, loading the dishes. The silence was so strong, especially in the wake of all the noise we'd just had, that I simply had to comment on it.

Isn't it awfully quiet Winkie?

Hmmm. Ya.

Its nice, isn't it?

Ya.

Wanna play a game?

Yeah!

Okay...we stay absolutely silent for 3 minutes, and perk up our ears and listen for any other sounds that may be there, and then you tell me what you heard, ok?

OK!

Silence....1 min....2.....3.....and then..

So what did you hear?

Nothing. I did not hear anything. It was very quiet.

Hmm. That can't be. You must have hear something. Little little things...

Ok...then you tell me what you heard...

Silence again...1 min....2....3....

I heard the sound of the cars passing by on the road, I heard you turning over the page fo your book, I heard the click click of the magnets of Thambi's train engine.....see, I heard a lot of things.

Wow. Okay, now its my turn...

Silence....1 min...2....3.....

Ok, your turn...

Hmm.....I heard the beep of the fire alarm (batteries need changing!), I heard you closing the door of the oven, I heard the water drip from the tap, I heard a dog barking outside.....

Wow...that's a lot of things.

Yeah! *pleased as punch*

At the end of this impromptu exercise, we made on important observation. That it feels good to stop talking and start listening. That even simple silence is not the most absolute. There is always that faint white noise. That absolute silence would be the most deafening sound of all...