As I pulled my vehicle onto the South Shore Drive, a loud dinging noise split my eardrums. I’d forgotten to fasten my safety belt, which set off an alarm. The sound was annoying, and I quickly buckled myself in, happy to be done with the noise.
Is there any place on this planet where one can find peace and quiet? I mean the restful calming lack of noise, the kind of tranquility I experienced fifty-some years ago when my husband and I spent a year in the woods as described in my book, Tucker Lake Chronicle.
We lived without modern amenities, and the silence was all-encompassing and restful.
Now, many years later, I often think about the noisy clutter we live with: cell phones not only ring, but they also tinkle when they’re fully charged; public places are filled with the jangle of ringing phones.
Even my new refrigerator is noisy. It chirps when its doors aren’t properly closed and causes me to wonder why its engineers didn’t work harder to make a door that closes properly to begin with.
Robo callers are also a disruptive factor of this era, especially those who use the local area code to fool us into answering,
I don’t know how many times I’ve dropped everything to fly across the room, risking life and limb to answer the phone, thinking a family member might have an emergency only to hear the spiel of some charity group I’ve never heard of.
The plain truth is that we can’t escape the real world, and I understand that, but I do understand why the BWCA and local campgrounds are filled with visitors.
In fact, I spent quality time on the Gunflint Trail last summer. It was wonderful. No power. No phone service. Only an occasional moose or raven. The serenity and peace I enjoyed there can’t be duplicated.
I enjoyed the sound of wind in the treetops and the long drawn out songs of woodpeckers.
However, things are about to change. Soon a cell tower is to be built for the Gunflint Trail area. No longer will I have to worry in case of an emergency. On the other hand, I’ll have to live with the jingle jangle of a cell phone.
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