It’s loud where I work. In fact it’s loud everywhere I’ve worked, even the quiet places. Ben, my infant son, hates the coffee grinder. It’s scary to him, he doesn’t know what that noise is and instinctually it must be threatening. Us grown ups, we’ve learned to ignore that noise like the growl of trucks or the clatter of jackhammers or the wail of car alarms and sirens. We think it’s annoying but to him it’s scary.

And Ben has it right, it is scary, these noises are supposed to scare us but instead we cover them up with more noise. We put in headphones or turn up the volume on the TV or install white noise machines. I’m guilty of it.

In my journeys I try to escape that noise. As much as I want to say it’s possible it’s extremely difficult. Even deep in the bush there’s the buzz of an airplane, the thunder of big rig engine brakes, the thumping of a helicopter…

I do find moments of peace. They are fleeting. They are the essence of Adventures to Nowhere.

I hope Ben gets to escape that coffee grinder one day. I hope he enjoys finds those fleeting moments of peace.