Soundwalk

Near Westwood, Long Island at around 5:00AM I go for a run and then spend an hour outside to listen to the sounds. The sun is barely out at this time, so it is pretty quiet with mostly just white noise. Occasionally you hear the birds waking up and chirping. It's particularly breezy and since it's so silent it's easy to hear the leaves rustling around. The occasional runner comes by and all you hear are footsteps which get softer as they get further away and eventually disappear. A woman walks by walking her golden retriever and says hello to me and makes some small talk. Her dog is very big and his breathing is quite loud in the silence that surrounds us. Cars come by rarely but any car that comes by is very quiet and just sounds like another gust of wind momentarily. At around 5:50 the long island rail road passes by and pierces through the silent barrier for a moment. It announces its direction towards Penn Station and then continues along to the next stop. It seems as if once that first train rolls through at 6:00AM comes around the sounds pick up drastically. A lot more cars are now passing through local streets, still not loud enough to be bothersome but definitely more noticeable. More runners take to the streets, a couple who converse while they run but are out of breath. As I walk back home I can hear a plane coming in towards JFK since they usually fly over my house. The plane is so far but it's noise is so distinct that it's easily distinguishable from all else. I get home around 6:20 and it is also silent because I am the only person who wakes up at 5:00AM.