What Is That Noise?

Have you ever been in a situation where you hear a noise, but you can’t figure out what you are hearing? Perhaps you are finding it challenging to determine the direction from which the noise is originating? “Is that the refrigerator? Was that an earthquake? Did the cat knock something onto the floor? Do I hear thunder?” These are questions we may ask ourselves in such circumstances. I find myself in these situations probably more often than most people because I am hearing impaired. I sometimes have difficulty identifying sounds. Other times, I may have a difficult time locating the source of a given sound. These incidents can be further complicated if there is a lot of background noise, such as music playing or people talking.

I woke up earlier than I anticipated this morning. I did not really want to get up early. This morning was one of those mornings that I could not go back to sleep. It was still dark outside. The scent of coffee brewing in the automatic coffee maker was beckoning me. So, I got out of the bed and slowly meandered into the kitchen. As I was making my coffee, my cat, Rougarou, greeted me. While I was adding sugar and milk to my coffee, I heard a muted, intermittent squeaking noise. I thought to myself, “Is that a mouse squeaking? Why would a mouse be so vocal with a cat in the house?” Rougarou kept walking around and encircling my legs as if he could not hear what I was hearing. “Maybe it was a chirp and not a squeak,” I thought to myself. “Probably a bird on a windowsill. Rougarou knows he cannot go outside to get the bird, so he’s just ignoring it.” I decided to ignore the sound too.

I had a seat in my living room chair and started paying bills while watching old country music videos. The muted noise persisted. It was intermittent with long pauses in between. I found it rather odd that this bird just kept hanging around the windowsill. Thirty, maybe even forty-five minutes passed. My coffee mug was empty. It was time for a refill. While I was refilling my coffee in the kitchen, I could still hear the noise. “Is it just me, or is this noise a little bit louder?” I asked myself. I looked out the window. There were no birds on the kitchen windowsill. The noise paused. Again, I made no big deal about it.

I returned to my seat in the living room to finish balancing my checkbook. I decided to make an extra payment on one of my bills. Being a nurse, I am mindful of my financial health. An extra payment here and there can help pay off bills sooner! My husband finally woke up. He had to leave for an early morning doctor’s appointment. If he heard the squeaking noise, he never said anything to me about it. I forgot to mention it to him or ask him if he heard it. He is also hearing impaired. He most likely would not have heard it anyway. After my husband had been gone for about an hour, the noise seemed to be significantly louder and occurring more frequently. In fact, it was almost constant. “What in the world is that? Where is that noise coming from? Did Rougarou injure a mouse that got away? Is the mouse hiding under a cabinet?” I asked myself. Again, I was not so sure this noise was a squeak. In some ways, it sounded like a chirp. I wondered if maybe a bird flew into the side porch room. Maybe the bird is desperate to get out. Meanwhile, Rougarou is not acting very concerned about this noise. I found this to be very unusual and out of character for him.

I looked out into the side porch room. I saw no bird in the side porch room. I saw no mouse anywhere in the kitchen, though the noise persisted and seemed to be coming from the kitchen area. I can only hear out of my right ear. I turned my right ear in the direction of the noise, trying to pinpoint the exact location of the noise. The noise seemed to be coming from the kitchen table! “What the heck!” I said out loud. The kitchen table is not exactly a mess, but it is not all neat and organized either. Since our sons moved out, my husband and I usually eat in the living room off of TV trays instead of sitting at the dining room table. So, the kitchen table has become more of a catchall for mail, packages, boxes, and snacks.

I stared at the table for a few moments. The sound was definitely coming from the table. Initially, I still could not identify the source of the sound. For a moment, I thought I saw movement out of the corner of my left eye. I did a double take and looked again. “What was that? What am I seeing here?” I asked myself. There wasn’t just one, but several things moving around on the table. I had to stare at the moving objects for a brief moment. A smile spread across my face when I realized what I was staring at. I had forgotten about the incubator on the kitchen table! There were about three baby chicks in the incubator. The eggs were hatching! I could see several other eggs rolling back and forth in almost animated fashion, expanding and contracting like something from a science fiction movie. If you have never seen chicks hatching from eggs, it is fascinating to watch! I had forgotten about the eggs my husband had collected and placed in the incubator. My husband and I were discussing the baby chicks just a few days ago. He assured me that it would be another week, maybe even two weeks, before the chicks would be born. Needless to say, hatching baby chicks was not on my radar this morning.

My husband came back home from his doctor’s appointment shortly after my discovery. He was just as surprised as I was. We both recalled the discussion we had a few days ago. As of this afternoon, we have about fourteen babies. They are hard to count because they are rambunctious and will not sit still. Oh! By the way, the noise still hasn’t stopped!

What is the moral of this story? Well, there really isn’t one. If there is a moral, I guess it is that nature will surprise you when you least expect it. Other than that, I suppose this story is just another one of my misadventures on my farm!

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Clifton Joullian, B.S.N., R.N.

The Nurse Farmer