05.21.09
Life Out in the Open
The temperature has suddenly spiked here in Ancona. For the first time in many months, the house is getting a little stuffy at night. We open the windows to get a little fresh air.
Life in an apartment is full of little noises that remind you that you’re not alone. Noises like the woman upstairs whose high heels click on each stair just after lunch on her way back to work. The sound of a toilet flushing. The garage door opening or closing, or the slam of the front door when someone comes home.
But now that the windows are open, the noises are much louder. We can hear TVs at night and the clink of dishes after dinner. Neighbors walk out to say hello when they hear you on the balcony hanging laundry. Loud motorcycles going down the street make it hard to hear the TV. At first we feel like we have to keep the kids quiet all the time so that no one hears us. But then you realize no one else is making an effort to hide. It’s just how life is.
It’s a little unnerving at first. But after a while you stop noticing the noises and everything blends back into the background. It’s only when the windows first get opened that you realize you’re not alone.
acrosser said,
05.23.09 at 9:08 am
I love that time of year because I love hearing what is going on all around us. I don’t know if it is the nosy person in me or the one who really doesn’t like to be alone. Either way I like it!
Angie