I am a junkie who just got a fix
I had an outdoor experience with a friend’s girlfriend 20 years ago and I always hoped to repeat it, but with no luck until twice in the last two weeks: once in a forest with complete strangers and once, alone, on a ski-lift.
The experience? Silence - complete silence. I had never considered its existence before and, once I had, didn’t realise how difficult it is to come by. Go back 20 years: we had just finished our final exams at university and a group of us decided to go to the Peak District for the day. I have a photograph of the shiny, spotty, cocky lot of us - there are about 10 people in it: I can remember the names of 3 of them (didn’t I write before about how friends come and go?) .
We walked for about an hour up a hill and, for some reason, my friend’s girlfriend and I pulled ahead and reached the summit long before the others. Sitting and watching the others arrive, we both realised that there was absolutely no sound of any kind around us: no birds singing, no wind blowing, no cars in the distance, no planes overhead: nothing. It only lasted a minute or so, but it was overbearing (and don’t suggest it was some kind of sexual tension between us or conversational unease - it was pure silence). Ever since, when out in the countryside, I look out for it (why not look for it - you can’t hear it after all arf arf), but have never been able to repeat the experience…until two weeks ago.
A neighbour asked me if I’d like to go mountain-biking with him and some friends. After a while, struggling to keep up, I was separated from the group and found myself alone in the forest listening out for them in the distance. I was breathing hard, so held my breath and heard - nothing. It only lasted a few seconds. In this case, it was perforated by quad-bikers in the distance - fat blokes on fat bikes chewing up the countryside.
I supposed that this would be an experience for which I’d have to wait 20 years to
experience again, but it happened again this week while on a skiing holiday. Late in the afternoon, I took a ski-lift alone to get to the top of the mountain and make the most of the late afternoon sunshine and the quieter slopes. Close to the top, I got the same sensation - just for a few moments there was no swish of skis slicing through the snow, whoops of joy or cries of pain. With Mont Blanc in the distance and the sun shining it was a great moment, all too rare.
I can’t wait to experience it again - I am a silence junkie who was finding it harder and harder to get a fix but I’m sated for the moment.
No polemic about noise pollution to finish this post, just a trailer for the next one, in which I’ll tell you about another type of silence that I experienced not with, but about the above friend’s girlfriend: pure embarrassed silence in this case…
February 24th, 2008 at 12:04 am
You’re right, absolute silence is damn hard to find and when you do it’s very eerie.
When I was on Arran with Rachael in the summer we went for a walk up a hill (there’s a surprise) and a lot of that was through a forest. We stopped for a drink in the middle of the trees and looked at each other and were overpowered by the complete, utter silence. Not a breath of wind, not the croak of a frog or the twitter of a bird. It was most unusual and quite creepy. I’m pretty sure I broke the silence with a joke but as is usually the case with my jokes there was an even more overpowering silence!
February 24th, 2008 at 10:08 pm
At a remote monastery deep in the woods, the monks followed a rigid vow of silence. This vow could only be broken once a year on Christmas, by one monk, and the monk could speak only one sentence.
One Christmas, Brother Thomas had his turn to speak and said, “I love the delightful mashed potatoes we have every year with the Christmas roast!” Then he sat down. Silence ensued for 365 days.
The next Christmas, Brother Michael got his turn, and said, “I think the mashed potatoes are lumpy and I truly despise them!” Once again, silence ensued for 365 days.
The following Christmas, Brother Paul rose and said, “I am fed up with this constant bickering!”
February 25th, 2008 at 9:06 am
A very old joke, but not quite the silence I was describing - wait for the next post for an example!
But it’s nice to have comments as long as the actual post!
February 25th, 2008 at 12:10 pm
I dream of silence! Cant even get Husband to sit without the tv on!
GP x
February 25th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
I hate that when people have the TV on just for the sake of having some noise…or maybe it’s the thought of having to speak to me :-/
February 25th, 2008 at 3:02 pm
I was hanging from a kite being towed by a boat once - I too experienced the silence and what did I do - I spoke to myself!! Must be a female thing to do.
Pix x
February 25th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
Did your kite get tangled in the sails of the boat or were you doing it on purpose
Not even the sound of the wind, the waves or the boat?
I reckon you had some kind of spiritual, inner silence, not a physical one. Maybe that’s why you got scared and spoke. You know you can talk to Doctor Soggers…I’m listening.