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MyspaceMy wife and I live in a comfortable house in Santa Barbara,
In a neighborhood about a mile north of the freeway.
At night we sometimes hear the sound of big rigs and sports cars,
And occasionally a train bellowing like a wounded elephant.
During the day, cars, trains and airplanes,
The angry cawing of crows and the mild wisdom of doves.
There is also pounding and sawing of construction, mowing and blowing
And neighbors talking or babies crying.
Holidays, particularly, are loud with oohs and ahhs
At sports on television.
The foremost tumult, however, is the cacophony of barking dogs.
This noise starts at about seven am, and goes, off and on, all day long.
There are those that bark by themselves,
While others bark at each other, back and forth, some high pitched squeaks, others low growls.
Unlike most sounds, each bark an intrusion into our personal space.
We have complained with some effect to two neighbors
But there are so many others we are silenced by the size of the task.
Is there no balm in Gilead?
Thomas Scheff is a professor emeritus, UCSB Dept. of Sociology
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Comments
Is there any escape from noise?
Ken_Volok (anonymous profile)
September 25, 2012 at 9:19 a.m. (Suggest removal)
There is escape from noise, unfortunately it's in your backyard.
SBLoc (anonymous profile)
September 25, 2012 at 4:11 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I experience exactly what prof Scheff experiences, & I'm dwelling on the gritty Westside near Harding Elementary School...yes, it's a cacaphony of barking dogs endlessly howling while their hardworking "owners" do their daily American jobs, seldom home, canines going wild, neighborhood raucous and blasting with hill-billy dogs raging...baying hounds, oh my, tom...
all the other stuff, too, airblowers and mowers etc....sylvan SB, indeed. Deal with it.
DrDan (anonymous profile)
September 25, 2012 at 6:21 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I feel only sympathy for those who suffer from inconsiderate (and ignorant) neighbors. Last night, I sat and tried to compose a non-offensive note to my neighbors across the street. They leave their little dog alone every evening now, it seems, for at least a couple hours.
Meanwhile, neighbors all around are subjected to this dog voicing its separation anxiety. The dog is left indoors, but the sound is barely muffled. He/she cries out her loneliness nearly non-stop.
I feel my heart wrench with each yelp and squeal. Poor dogs. They are pack animals, and yet so few owners seem to get that leaving these pets alone for long periods of time is cruel.
As for gasoline leaf blowers . . .If everyone in City of SB who is bothered by the continued illegal use (and air pollution and noise) of gasoline blowers would email Chief Sanchez, maybe the enforcement would be stepped up. I am going to send him my email right now.
chilldrinfthenight (anonymous profile)
September 26, 2012 at 12:45 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Too many people crammed into one space. I noticed the freeway noise the last few years I lived in Mission Canyon. And of course, with more people, tempers get shorter and such noises become more bothersome. It's a vicious cycle of overpopulation, and as long as the world population keeps exploding, so will such problems. On the other hand, much can be accomplished by not freaking out over mild noise, such as the distant howl of the freeway, and for what it's worth, I always enjoyed the sound of the train bouncing off the foothills. In fact the sound of the train is something I really miss.
billclausen (anonymous profile)
September 27, 2012 at 3:48 a.m. (Suggest removal)