How You Notice Absence

Last Saturday, when Meenah was given a sedative, she fell into a deep sleep and started to snore.  It was only then that I realized I hadn't heard her snore for a long time, like months.  She was an inveterate snorer for all her life, but not lately.  I think she hadn't been really sleeping and I only realized it when she was sedated into sleep.

Similarly, I had a dream with an unusual event--nothing huge, but just something I have no recollection of ever having happened before.  I told a joke in a dream.  Even in the dream, it wasn't great.

I was with my wife and maybe one other person.  We were either on a military base or maybe a foreign country because there was a PA system and whenever it came on, everyone would stop in their tracks and listen quietly to hear the announcement.  The setting was old-style; lots of red brick, windows made-up of small panes and the colors were muted, to look like the past in movies.

One time, the PA system came on, everyone stopped to listen, but there was only silence.  After a bit of this, I whispered to my wife, "Maybe it's the opening rondo to 140 Hours of Silence, by John Cage."

As an added Note:  Even in my dream, the piece name was made-up.  I knew Cage was famous for a piece which was only silent but I didn't remember what it was called, or how long it was.  Maybe Cage wasn't ambitious enough, the real "piece" is called 4'33".  If he had tried harder, he could have kept it up for 140 hours.