Last night, I joined one of my coworkers and her husband for BBQ at their place. She is one of the few people at the office who understands my struggles with Misophonia, and is always considerate to ask if a sound might bother me. (Many a time when she and I would coordinate on a project, I'd ask her to stop doing something that was a trigger to me.) So, while the three of us were sitting by the firepit in their backyard, she asked me if the sounds of the crickets that surrounded us bothered me. I found it an interesting question because one thing I missed from my DC days was going for full-day hikes along the Appalachian Trail or other hikes in the VA/MD/PA area. That was the time I was most relaxed and could put aside any thoughts of my urban/work life.
I thought about her question and really listened to the sounds to which she was referring. They weren't quite crickets, because the sound was continuous, not short bursts. It sounded more like the drone of cicadas. The more I listened, the more I thought to myself that the droning sound was very similar to the sound masking static to which I continuously listen while at work. It was actually a fun revelation for me. No wonder why I find long hikes in the mountains so relaxing. The continuous sounds of mother nature (like those cicadas, the wind rustling leaves, and babbling brooks) become natural masking "noises" to me.
I guess if I had to associate a "color" with those sounds (since they sounded like the hissing of white noise or brown noise), I'd have to call it "natural." LOL! :-)
I thought about her question and really listened to the sounds to which she was referring. They weren't quite crickets, because the sound was continuous, not short bursts. It sounded more like the drone of cicadas. The more I listened, the more I thought to myself that the droning sound was very similar to the sound masking static to which I continuously listen while at work. It was actually a fun revelation for me. No wonder why I find long hikes in the mountains so relaxing. The continuous sounds of mother nature (like those cicadas, the wind rustling leaves, and babbling brooks) become natural masking "noises" to me.
I guess if I had to associate a "color" with those sounds (since they sounded like the hissing of white noise or brown noise), I'd have to call it "natural." LOL! :-)
Hiking by Great Falls in Virginia. (That's the Potomac River in the background.)
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