by Laura Montana

Created on: September 25, 2009   Last Updated: August 12, 2010

Since going back to school, one of my biggest challenges has been finding a quiet place to study. We are renting a small two-bedroom duplex while we look for a house to buy. In this small duplex, we have two teenage boys, two dogs, three noisy birds, three tv's, one stereo, two boom boxes, one Super Nintendo, one Playstation, and one computer that also makes noise.

I go to the library when it's open, although sometimes it's not very quiet there either. If the weather is fairly nice, I sit on the deck or in my van. There are times though when my bedroom is my only choice and closing the door does not shut out the noise.

I've started using my Walkman and headphones to drown out the random or rhythmical sounds throbbing through my walls; the success of my study sessions depends on my choice of music.

I tried a Yanni tape. I bought my first Yanni tape while on vacation on the Oregon Coast. Suddenly, I'm no longer sitting cross-legged on my bed, a school book in my lap. I'm on the beach, it's overcast, the sky blends into the ocean in a monochromatic horizon. It's chilly and windy and I don't want to get wet, but I tempt the waves anyway. Next song. It's warm. The sky is clear and blue. I'm feeding the sea gulls, appetites on Pegasus' wings. I sit on a stone wall to knock the sand from my shoes. This tape is obviously not working.

Enya. Enya sings to me in Gaelic. She takes me to an Irish castle made of thick stone walls sitting on a low hill. Inside, there are heavy tapestries on the walls, rushes on the floor, lighting by torches. Then, she takes me to the Scottish moors, knee-deep in the heather, alone with the ceaseless wind. I'm walking an unforgiving land with an underlying excitement of its past-this is not working!

I try a movie soundtrack. ' Dances With Wolves' is good. The music starts and I settle in to work. Things are going along fairly well. And then-I'm standing hip-deep in golden native grasses. The world is divided in half at the horizon. The bottom is gold, the top, clear blue sky, unmarred by clouds. It's not quite silent; the pulse of life beats there. The breeze moves the grass. Each head of seed dances independently of its neighbor. The air feels soft and the day feels bright. I'm expecting a herd of buffalo to appear over that swell of ground right over there...

So, if the library is closed, the weather is uncooperative and my sons are home, I turn off my Walkman and flip to a nature show on tv. If I'm not studying, I might as well learn something.

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