The Single Life: Turn down the noise, savor the peace

Since moving here, I have been fascinated by the trains that cut through the valley. We have all had the opportunity to stop and wait while five engines haul countless railcars of commerce up and down the line.

Where I live, you can hear the train’s whistle from a good distance as it moves along from crossing to crossing. At night I listen as the trains draw closer, then pass.

There must be a certain frequency to the pitch from this whistle or horn that makes the coyotes voice their displeasure. I imagine them all nestled in together, keeping warm on these December nights only to be jolted awake by the vibration and repetitive call from the train.

There is a communal howl that goes on a scale from middle C to a very high soprano-like yip that trails on for several minutes, saying all that needs to be said to the passing train.

In reality, coyotes are nocturnal predators. At least their displeasure gives their prey sufficient time to scatter.

Then once more there is silence to the night.

I believe that most of us come from quieter generations and I miss that. There was a time when privacy was respected. There was a time when we would speak in measured tones, blush at the curse or compliment. Stand up straight, learn by listening and yell yourself silly over baseball and football games.

Despite all that has gone on in-between then and now, I still would go back to that in an instant, and I wonder

when it all started turning us into the noisy mess that we have become.

Of course, I sit here in front of a machine that didn’t exist back then, drive a car that now gives me directions, have access to machines that do my wash and do my dishes and employers who don’t give a damn if I am male or female, white, black or gay. I don’t have to wait to want. I haven’t died in childbirth and I have children immune to frightening diseases.

For all this, I am beyond thankful and yet, I want to pull back, turn most of the current noise off and try to understand and deal with how things are now without losing personal values and self-respect. At a certain age, we are mostly all sitting at the same table.

Most likely this all bubbles up at this time of year when traditions are remembered and repeated. What treasures, stories, losses, loves, live just behind our eyes.

And so my holiday wish is that those memories never fade. That you make every effort to reason your way through what was once so easy and is now seems so loud, so careless.

Dorothy Dix wrote: I have learned to live each day as it comes, and not to borrow trouble by dreading tomorrow. It is the dark menace of the future that makes cowards of us.

So for a little while, let tomorrow be yesterday. Be as constant as the trains and as disturbed as the coyotes, but most of all, keep the peace.

Mary Ann Linforth is a Green Valley freelance writer. Contact her at maryannlinforth@aol.com.