The Oddities of Silence

It's the odd things in life...

During these last few months, it's been hot enough of a night to really need to have fans running in the house, just to keep it tolerable for sleeping.  I am definitely NOT a hot weather person, and neither is Sam, my small, furry friend of the canine persuasion.

Thankfully, though, as Fall begins to come in, the temperatures have been falling, and things have been getting more comfortable.  Though I've still had to leave the fans on of a night.

My room is blessed with a window air conditioner, which seems to have been running non-stop for about the last two months (both in AC and fan mode).  I also keep an older oscillating fan right outside my door, to keep a breeze going through the living room, where Sam prefers to sleep.  Again, both of these have been running non-stop for about two months.

You really don't realize how much background noise these things generate.  Or how used to it you get.

Last night, and some ungodly hour, I woke up to the wonderful feeling of actually being cold.  So, I groggily got up and shut off both fan and AC unit.  I fell back in bed, and dozed back off...

And woke up, suddenly, to a strange, rhythmic wheezing sound.  What was that???

It takes the mind a bit of time, you know, to come out of that sleep zone and realize that you've just woken up to the sound of your own breathing, which you haven't heard clearly for two months!

Sad.

A short while later, I heard the padding of small paws making their way into my room.  There was a pause, then a very loud, "Hmmmph!"

Obviously, someone else woke up to the sounds of their own breathing...