Sleepy.

{I was hoping they would leave soon.}

Sometimes, when nearby neighbours are having a loud and raucous party, I feel like an old maid. And whilst I know I am neither old nor a maid, I still feel like one upon such occasions.

3am last Friday evening found me with a frown upon my face as my new next door neighbours both warmed their house and celebrated a birthday. A brick wall between us that seemed to become thinner by the minute, they sung, they stomped, they yelled, and they played the guitar, badly. Our adjoining wall may well have been a sheet for all the noise it kept out. I sat on the couch with pets about my person, nestled in a hand-knitted rug, longing for sleep or a little quietness so as to read or do anything other than glower in the direction of the merry revellers through our now ridiculously thin connecting wall.

Much squealing, much yelping, much jumping, much running and much singing continued to be heard until I finally dozed off and buried myself in an anxiety-riddled dream world.

It gladdened my heart the next day to read Kate Holden’s piece about her own Neighbours of Noise (NB neighbourhood hoods: I’m craving a little peace of the action) in the A2. Knowing others feel the same, and endure the same small irritations proved the medicine I was after upon returning home, post yoga class. I no longer wished to send the VB stubbie resting half full on the brick fence sailing in the direction of their front window. Sleep deprivation can make me feel all manner of things, and I would never normally desire to send a bottle flying towards a window with the intention of hearing it smash against the glass. Such thoughts, as well as appalling me, remind me of a Russian animation watched recently. Directed by Fyodor Khitruk, Story of One Crime (1962) tells eloquently the story of one man (a man deprived of a good nights sleep, we later find out) who commits a wrong against a fellow neighbour screeching loudly in conversation in a communal courtyard. The hands of the clock wind back and we see the day and the night that preceded, from domestic squabbles to late night revellers, and two young lovers communicating to one another through a series of taps on the pipes that snake through the building. So much disruption and so much noise, it is no wonder at all that the woman with the jackal-like cackle proves too much to bear. Best not to judge too harshly the thoughts and actions of someone who longs for a little peace and quiet, don’t you agree?

Off for a catnap I go.

(Thank you for your kind and encouraging comments left on the previous post, they meant a great deal to me and I hope to reply to them shortly.)

(In the collage above you can see Swedish engineer Salomon August Andrée's attempt to reach the geographic North Pole by balloon. The balloon remained visible for an hour as it headed north before disappearing completely from view, never to return.)

Comments

[Katherine]

Sorry to read of hard times with neighbours, it is awful and I know what you mean about feeling like an old maid. We had terrible neighbour problems last year and ended up moving (fortunately we were renting), we are so much happier and less anxious.

[amisha]

i empathize with this completely... when you are tired and need to rest it can be maddening to have some chaos happening next door. i suffered a year living beneath "the stompers" and explored all variety of earplugs during that time! xox

[shari]

oh goodness. take lots of catnaps. love the new collage. a sad tale though. sending hugs.

[Eunice]

oh, poor you. hope all is quiet now and that you have sweet dreams.

[risa]

our upstaris neigbor is a big fan of techno music. i am now used to going about my daily business with a constant "boom boom booming" in the bacground. at 2 or 3 am in the morning, however, that booming feels like a pounding headache and we have knocke don his door telling him that despite being younger than him we are old fogies and like a full night sleep, even on weekends.
he's always very nice so we try and respect his affinity for strong beats. i wonder what he does while listening to this music during all hours. is he sitting and reading a book? dancing in front of the mirror?
i hope tonight brings you a restful and long sleep!

[Tiffany]

Sounds like a raucus crew you have nextdoor! I have the Chanter who lives in the nursing home behind my house and sits outside speaking jibberish at 2:00 and 3:00 in the morning...for hours on end...summer and winter! Not to mention the staff up there who sit outside, smoking and talking at all hours, forgetting that there is a world of neighbors who get up early and work all day long. You want to talk about a cranky girl when she doesn't get her sleep? I totally sympathize with the vindictive impulses; though I, too, would never act upon them. Though I am sorely tempted to plant some stink weed type plant around their smoking area when no one is around - maybe that would drive them out!

Good luck with your neighbors!

[mansuetude]

i really love the collage--

i have a neighbor with a new dog, it howls so lonely, and sometimes when i meditate, i hear it inside me, deeper than i would like a wolf sound to enter...perhaps my subconscious mind will think i want to be a ware-wolf... Hope not!

[simple me]

the way you write ... it is like opening a book and getting inside a story.

thanks! :)*

[Brydie]

Oh, you poor souls, it must be the ones in the house I was looking at. The good news is that I'm pretty sure the lease was only available for six months. I hope they get better and it was just a surprisingly energetic house-warming.
We all seem to have our neighbour horror stories. Opposite us live three brothers in their 20's... all into alcohol, swearing, motorbikes, and personal threats. Absolutely un-divine sounds of poles attached to wizzing home-repaired dirt bikes scrape the ashphelt as they speed past our bedroom window at the wee hours of a week night again and again and again..... Apparently they get their kicks from seeing the sparks fly from the pole. I get my kicks by imagining finally confronting them and telling them to grow up and consider others.
Magic sleep-credit to you and LJ xx

[fliss]

That feeling of wanting to sleep but so much noise stopping you just makes me feel so crazy inside... I do hope it doesnt happen too often for you. I also really enjoyed your thursdays post and thought it funny to have 2 very contrasting days. I hope you have more quiet thursdays ( any other day) at home with peace all around. Sleep well G. xx

[Elizabeth]

okay then, after MONTHS of envy directed to you for your warm warm, nay HOT summer weather-- I can now feel relief that we no longer have neighbors living above us and next door as we once did-- it can push you to your last nerve for sure. Our neighbors are the transient types now-- they just pass through-- moose, deer, fox, bear . . coyotes--- they are the noisy ones . .

[Catherine]

annoying neighbours... but beautiful collage, as always!

[lisa s]

ah yes. noisy neighbors. i always feel bad for wishing they'd be quieter - like i'm turning into the grouchy old woman who no longer has fun... heh heh.

hope you caught up on your sleep....

[Brita]

Yesterday after reading this blog entry, I arrived home late in the evening and my neighbours a few doors down were having a party. It got noisier and noisier and I thought I wouldn't be able to sleep but instead I crashed into bed with weariness. Later- who knows how later- I had a dream about this blog entry and noisy neighbours (could I still hear the party in my sleep?) and I dreamt that I wrote a comment on your blog about noisy neighbours. And when I remembered just a moment ago, I thought I just had to post a comment. It made me smile- the strange circularity of it all...

[gracia]

It is comforting to know that so many of you share my woes. Noisy, intrusive neighbours really can be the pits, can’t they? This weekend my neighbours they have been quiet as the not quite proverbial church mice.

The same could not be said for the Thursday evening prior when the racket they kicked up drove me the point of being unable to think what to do. From midnight through until 6am they, or rather, one man, played music loudly. Singing along, yelling and stomping until he presumably passed out.

Six hours of noise had me contemplating crazy things. I thought of curling up for a kip in the car, I thought of sliding a pair of earphones tucked inside an envelope underneath his door, I thought, in an Amelie-like moment, of cutting his power line (remember that scene, early on, where she interferes with the television reception of a keen soccer fan?), and I thought of confronting him. I didn’t do any of these things, but the thought of doing so made me a little happier as I lamented being surrounded by noisy and inconsiderate neighbours.

So thank you for sympathizing and for telling me your noise woes… it really did help me.

I wish you all a sound slumber,
g xo

P.S.
Your passing traffic, Elizabeth, sounds magical… moose, deer, fox, bear... coyotes! I am most envious, my friend.

And hello, Brita!