In Search of Silence
by Victoria Stopiello
As wc start a New Year 1 would like to challenge
each o f you to change a few habits Most o f us like to
think that as Oregonians we arc environmentally
friendly After all wc did enact the bottle b ill and wc
have public beaches. But as individuals do we really
behave in ways that demonstrate a priority towards
protecting our environment? After witnessing the
mass orgies at store checkout lines in December. I
have to wonder i f consumerism has replaced
env ironmentalism Perhaps it is time to take stock
and make a few modifications Most o f us recycle,
but do we do it properly or efficiently? Are we
reducing our consumption o f materials? Can we
reuse materials? M y challenge is to try to change or
modify a poor environmental habit each month.
These can be as simple as elim inating the use o f
plastic liners in garbage cans or as complex as
elim inating meat products from your diet It is not
easy. I did this last year and was successful
9 o f the months. The other .3 months, well a ll I can
say is that I tried, had fun. learned something and in
the end felt good about myself. Here are a few
suggestions:
Joyce Stewart is a local artist who lives in the
beautiful but small town of Wheeler, Oregon. She
works in both Mohler and Manzanita. She has also
lived in British Columbia and California. Joyce
paints with oils and does pictures of landscapes. Her
greatest inspiration is Courbet. Joyce started
painting in 1992. She got into painting at Clatsop
Community College and at art classes. Joyce
recommends that is you are interested in art you
should go to Clatsop Community College because
they have a very well funded art program, and ask
for Jeff Wyman and/or Royal Nebeker who are some
of Joyce’s main art teachers.
Anne Mersereau, 11 yrs old,
PEÎER9 W
She's in a funk, wants to move It isn't just the size
of the apartment, the fact that it is so small she can't move the
fum ilure-it is also the lack of natural light Die few windows
face north into a 14-story building Even that you could
endure with forays to the river or Central Park. But the noise,
the noise is with you always when you live ill Manhattan.
Last night as she answered the phone, a siren blared in the
background. It's the warm time of year when the windows are
typically open. Out front on 23rd the quick-moving yellow
cabs ply her street in packs. Motorcycles roar by in noisy
coveys. The street is seldom clear of pedestrians - making it
relatively safe at any hour but again, never quiet, never silent
Wind is overwhelmed in this cacophony. The sigh of
wind in trees, fluttering dry leaves and papers along the
sidewalk, even this soothing sound is canceled by the incessant
traffic, busses, delivery' trucks, taxis and the occasional private
car.
There's a book called "New York's Fifty Best Places
to Find Peace and Quiet." One of them is a room full of soil
in a basement You can go there and experience the smell and
silence of just plain earth. There's also a roof garden on the
lower west side where the views of the Hudson, and slanting
light on Manhattan's buildings, turn them into a cubist
sculpture garden. There's the Cloisters, a collection of
imported French monastery buildings in a park at the extreme
north end of the island There are other quiet places and
luckily a lot of them are free. But getting there takes effort
and a bustling, hustling subway ride
Quiet Something I used to lake for granted growing
up in small towns. Irritating quiet. It meant I was bored, like
most teenagers. My attitude slowly changed. First it was
living in a house right on the intersection ot two teeder streets
in Vancouver. The screech of brakes and roar of acceleration as
drivers headed for tlie high school and college-both visible
from our front lawn. I vowed never to live again on a comer
lot.
Noise came into my thoughts again traveling in
southeast Asia. Singapore is a city state, nearly as dense a
Manhattan. The daytime traffic is as intense and amplified
by the Asian custom of establishing right of way by honking
your horn -literally the louder and more incessant your
honking, the more you have the right of way. We found that
if we wanted a quiet place to do some planning or just aural
relief, the best place was a big western hotel lobby. Air
conditioned, with few windows and thick carpets, the noise
level dropped to imperceptible and we could count our money,
figure out our map, or settle an issue between us with some
concentration.
Bangkok was no different, perhaps even noisier, but
quiet places were easier to find. The wats, Buddltist temples,
were similarly constructed, a group of buildings surrounded by
a garden with huge trees, all enclosed in massive masonry
walls. You step through the few gates into the garden.
Benches offer rest, water trickles into small ponds, a few
flowers and uncluttered pathways soothe your eyes. Birds
twitter in the overarching branches. Again a place to think, to
get your bearings.
Last year in April, we visited that roof garden in
Manhattan during crystal clear, perfect weather, the buildings
bronzed by a late afternoon sun. Another day we walked from
Wall Street home to Dawn's apartment on 23rd, a distance of
several miles. A warm drizzle began and a few blocks later I
found a big blue and white umbrella abandoned in a trash can
The timing was perfect and I still have my trophy Manhattan
was exciting, fun. Lots to see and do and eat! Always another
neighborhood to explore.
But later in August, the excitement and stimulation
of the city that never sleeps was only noise and irritation
Four months traveling on the eastern seaboard, exposed daily
and nearly continuously to the impacts of human habitation,
I'd luid enough I longed for tlie quiet, quiet to the ears and
eyes, of a soft forest, the white noise of water meeting shore,
the rustle of wind in trees, the quiet of a late hour in a small
town, where footsteps mean a neighbor is headed home.
! INSECTS
fi&VtCuT tOO&j
When purchasing products think o f how it was
made. Choose products that do not cost the earth by
depicting natural resources and arc kind to animals
Check to sec i f they arc made o f recycled content and
arc themselves recyclable
Take public transportation. The shuttle in Cannon
Beach is free, operates 7 day s a week and uses
natural gas.
Stop using a disposable product. Disposable razors,
paper napkins and baby diapers arc examples o f
throw away products can be eliminated from our
lives.
Borrow books and magazines from libraries Plant
trees. Compost kitchen & yard debris
Conserve energy. Turn down hot water heaters,
furnaces and switch o ff lights Don't leave televisions
and radios running w hen you aren't in attendance
Pay attention to and understand issues like global
warming, power company mergers, solar heating &
the depletion o f fish runs Check in the newspaper to
sec how your elected representative voted on these
issues I f you are unhappy let them know that you
w ill not vote for them again based on this issue.
THE
c BEE
M O TEL CO TTAG ES
(Answers; ChainSaw Bug, Virus Bug, Claw Bug,
Wasp, Whale Fly, Computer Bug, &
Typewriter Bug.)
Peter McClure, 8yrs old,
Tolovana Park
M
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Since 1<)41
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